The thing we take for granted the most in our little run club, I think, is a great meeting place.
Running can happen pretty much anywhere, it seems. So long as there is a stretch of open road or some good trails, the important parts of lacing up and heading outbound are certain to follow.
But a regular spot?
That’s no easy feat.
Even the most obvious parking lot belongs to something or someone. Even a great public park is going to have busy days with shifting availabilities. Where you choose to leave your cars when a group of come-together running friends influences travel times, accessibility, seasonal shifts, local laws, and more.
We happen to make use of a high school parking lot adjacent to a community centre. No one is going to classes on the weekend when we meet to run, and the community centre has a cafe inside for post-run coffee.
We lucked into it, in many ways, but too we cling to the ideal flexibility it brings.
It’s close to a couple good suburban trail options.
It has access to public washrooms.
We’ve never had any security issues leaving our vehicles for hours at a time.
And it shows up clearly marked on online maps when we need to give directions to new recruits who may not know the landmarks offhand.
What kinds of things make your regular meeting spot work best?
Definitions
- run club
- Picture it. A group of strangers meet in a quiet parking lot on a cool morning and, dressed in shorts and neon t-shirts, set off into the unknown while sweating and breathing heavily together. Adventures ensue. Conversations flow. Friendships form.
- suburban
- I live in the suburbs of a big Canadian city called Edmonton, Alberta. We call it home, but a lot of people might look at the manufactured urban sprawl as cluttered with cars and fabricated architecture and big box stores. They're not wrong, but we've found the trails and the parks and entrances into the gorgeous river valley routes that have their own unique identity in our lives. Run where you can.
