The club
A running club that is mostly not about running
Show Up Run Club started in 2021 with four people and a WhatsApp group. The aim was never to be fast. It was to build the thing that gets you out of the door on the evening you were going to skip — which turns out to be other people expecting you.
- People on the books
- 1,240People on the books
- Out in a normal week
- 180Out in a normal week
- Club km logged
- 412kClub km logged
- Years running
- 5Years running
Your first time
Exactly what happens, minute by minute
The unknown is the thing that stops people. So here is the whole thing, in order, with nothing left out.
- 01
10 minutes before
You arrive and look slightly lost. Somebody says hello. Say it is your first time — this is the magic phrase and it works instantly.
- 02
5 minutes before
A run leader gathers everyone, welcomes the new people out loud, and explains the route and the groups. Nobody is asked their time.
- 03
Start
The groups set off ninety seconds apart, slowest first. Pick one. If it is wrong, swap at the first regroup — this happens constantly.
- 04
After
Everyone comes back to the same spot, the leader counts you in, and roughly half the club goes for coffee. Going is optional. Most people go.
Pace groups
How to pick, and why it does not matter if you pick wrong
Five groups go out on every run. Each has a leader who knows the route and a back marker in a red vest who never overtakes anybody.
Walk & Talk
Any
Walkers, run-walkers and comeback runs.
Social
7:00–8:00 /km
Conversation pace. Where most people start.
Steady
6:00–7:00 /km
Comfortable but working. Full sentences, not paragraphs.
Tempo
5:00–6:00 /km
Honest effort. Three or four words at a time.
Quick
sub 5:00 /km
Front of the pack. Bring your race legs.
The honest advice
Pick the group that sounds slightly too easy. Almost everyone overestimates on their first night, spends the run gasping instead of talking, and decides running clubs are not for them. The people who start one group down are the ones still here in a year — and they move up within a month anyway.
Who makes it work
Ninety-two volunteers and nobody paid
Every person listed here does it for nothing, on their own run time. Membership money pays for their qualifications, not their time.
14
Run leaders
Qualified through England Athletics, they know the route, set the pace and count everyone back in. Every group has one.
14
Back markers
The red vest at the rear. Their only job is to never overtake anyone. If you are last, you are running with a friend.
4
Coaches
They write Tuesday's session, run the 0→5K course and will look at your form for free if you ask.
60+
Marshals
Every race we put on is staffed by members who gave up their own run that day. Marshal twice, race free.
Where we meet
Five places, all easy to find
Riverside Park
Riverside Park — Main Gate
Under the arch by the coffee cart. Bag drop at the kiosk.
Eastfield Track
Eastfield Athletics Track
Lane 1 is for the fast reps — warm up on the outer lanes.
Old Mill Bridge
Old Mill Bridge — North Side
Meet on the steps. Lit route the whole way.
Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill Car Park
Free parking after 18:00. Bring a head torch in winter.
Grind & Go
Grind & Go Coffee
We take over the back room. First coffee is on the club for new faces.
Code of conduct
Six rules, and we mean all of them
Short enough that everybody has actually read it, which is the point.
Nobody gets left behind
This is the one rule everything else hangs off. If a group is splitting, it regroups. If someone is struggling, someone stays. Not negotiable, not on any run, ever.
No judgement about pace, body or kit
Not out loud, not as a joke, not as encouragement. Nobody comments on anyone's weight, speed or £15 trainers. The person you overtake today taught someone else to run last year.
Newcomers get looked after first
If someone is standing on their own at the meeting point looking uncertain, going over is more important than your warm-up. Everyone here was that person once.
Look after the route
We run through parks and neighbourhoods that belong to other people. Single file past pedestrians, no gels dropped, thank the driver who waits, take the noise down after 21:00.
Nobody sells anything here
No MLMs, no coaching pitches, no supplement brands, no recruiting. Come and run.
Say something if it goes wrong
If anyone makes you uncomfortable, tell any run leader or email hello@showup.y99.tech. It is taken seriously and it stays private. Two people have been asked to leave in five years and we would do it again tomorrow.
Questions
The ones everybody asks
Answered properly, not in marketing language.
I am genuinely very slow. Am I too slow?
No. The Walk & Talk group covers the same route as everyone else and gets the same finish. Our slowest regular 5K is a shade over 45 minutes and she has not missed a Thursday in two years. There is no pace at which you stop being welcome.
Do I have to pay anything?
No. Every weekly run is free forever. Some races and trips cost money because they cost us money. Membership is £25 a year, entirely optional, and buys insurance, coaching qualifications and the junior section — not access.
Do I need to register before I turn up?
No. Registering on this site helps the run leaders plan and means you get a reminder, but people walk up cold to every single run and always will be able to.
What do I actually need to bring?
Trainers and whatever you are comfortable in. Not running-specific shoes, not club kit, not a watch. In winter, something with a bit of reflective on it. That is honestly it.
I don't know anybody. Will that be awkward?
For about four minutes. Turn up ten minutes early and say it is your first time — someone will be assigned to you before you finish the sentence. The Sunday Coffee Run and the Thursday Bridge Loop are the two easiest ones to start with.
Can I bring my dog / buggy / kids?
Dogs and buggies on the Sunday Coffee Run, yes. Kids over 11 on any run with a parent; under 11s at the junior section on Saturday mornings. Dogs on a short lead, please, and not on Track Tuesday.
What if I have to stop halfway?
Then you stop halfway and the back marker stops with you, and you walk back together, and nobody mentions it again. This happens most weeks.
I am injured / pregnant / coming back from illness. Can I still come?
Yes, and please do — talk to a run leader first so we can plan around it. Plenty of people walk a lap and stay for coffee. Coming for the people rather than the running is a completely legitimate reason to be here.
How do I get more involved?
Marshal a race, volunteer as a back marker, or just start being the person who talks to newcomers. Run leader qualifications are funded by the club — email hello@showup.y99.tech and we will put you through it.
Privacy, briefly
What we keep and what we do with it
What we store
Your name, email, pace group and — only if you give them — a phone number and emergency contact. Plus which runs you signed up for and what kit you ordered.
Who sees it
Run leaders see the attendance list for their own run. The treasurer sees kit orders. Emergency contacts are visible to run leaders on the day and nobody else.
What we never do
We do not sell it, share it, run ads against it, or put you on a mailing list you did not ask for. There is no tracking pixel on this website.
Getting it deleted
Email hello@showup.y99.tech and your account and everything attached to it is gone the same day. You do not have to give a reason.
That really is the whole strategy. Thursday, 18:30, Old Mill Bridge. Look for the red vests.
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