The pathway for new or returning runners has solid foundations but after stage two the routemap gets a bit blurry. Leo Spall asks whether we need a stage three in the running journey.
You’ve taken the potentially life-changing decision to get off the couch and trained to run a 5k, beamed from ear to ear as you crossed the finish line of your local parkrun and then ... what?
The next step – unlike on the well-signposted C25k, parkrun route - isn’t as well established, and time, running ambition and access to expertise become increasingly important factors.
For many, the initial goal is to get fitter and develop an exercise habit; C25k and parkrun deliver on those scores brilliantly and that should be celebrated.
Once runners get into parkrun many also choose not to go anywhere else, regardless of other factors; you only have to clock the number of milestone 50 and 100 parkrun t-shirts around on Saturday mornings to know that this great event has a loyal following.
But for those who love the camaraderie and vibe at the Saturday morning events and still want more, where should they go to further their running journey, and who should they ask?
This question came up as I considered what lay ahead for a C25k group I was leading. Parkrun HQ has many stats but they focus on different questions so I surveyed more than 100 event directors to try to establish, anecdotally at least, if any, wider, informal running routemap has emerged.
"For many, the initial goal is to get fitter and develop an exercise habit; C25k and parkrun deliver on those scores brilliantly and that should be celebrated."
The volunteers who responded confirmed my hypothesis: there is no formal post-parkrun pathway.
In Whitstable, Kent, many of the C25K parkrun graduates have gone on to train with a local fitness instructor; the Prudhoe Riverside parkrun in Northumberland has a strong connection with a new-runners’ programme and that has inspired a new club.
There’s a similarly symbiotic relationship in Alness, in the Scottish Highlands, where parkrun and the local Jog Scotland group link up.
“A lot of our C25k graduates have worked to get from 5k to 10k and up to half marathons,” said Ros Jemmett, one of the Alness parkrun-organising volunteers. “I know parkrun has played a huge part in keeping people motivated and Alness would be a poorer place without it - I am convinced that a lot less people would be running.”
However, at Pymmes parkrun in Edmonton, north London, next-steps advice and race suggestions is the result purely of intra-runner chat; David Chapple, event director of Gnoll parkrun in Neath said he has seen a range of post-5k routes taken.
Chapple estimated a significant number of new participants make friends at the Saturday morning event and run and race together, and “quite a few” join local clubs.
Organisers of the Valley parkrun in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, said: “At a guesstimate I would say that probably only 20-30 percent take it [running] up regularly and join local clubs etc; another 10-20 percent we would see regularly back at our parkrun, and probably 50 percent we never see again.”
UK Athletics is keen for the Saturday morning 5k champions to take their running further with clubs and England Athletics has a good scheme to make starting running groups easy – RunTogether; Jog Scotland and Run Wales do similar jobs.
But these groups are not everywhere and I know of towns where the athletics club dominates the running scene.
The vibe and focus of each athletics club is different, yet many new or returning runners I’ve spoken to don’t feel confident enough to enter a club environment. Their local organisation could be the friendliest and most helpful in the world but the competition element inherent in club running puts them off.
There are alternatives, including social networking sites such as meetup and Jogging buddy, and gym-linked groups, but the advice and experiences available might not reach the standards available from formal groups.
The logical next step after reaching 5k would be to train for and run a 10k, and a survey of the number of races listed at Runner's World for 2018 suggests there are more formal events at this distance than any other in the UK (excluding parkrun).
Other new or returning runners set their sights on a half or full marathon for their next challenge, or even an ultra, and these distances would usually make the need for advice and support even greater.
What is clear is that the options open up post-5k and the signposts run out. The varied and potentially-bewildering landscape seems to take it for granted that if you’ve got through parkrun you have caught the bug and want to stay a runner.
Those who could do with a helping hand to stay fit and consistently active – the estimated 50 percent who try Newtownabbey’s parkrun and never return for instance – would benefit from more guidance: a third obvious stage in the running journey.
Like many others, I’m passionate about spreading the joy of running and don’t want to lose people who have taken their many, first big steps to 5k. I’m keen to help, and I’m not alone, but a simplified landscape – or better signposting - for those without support wouldn't hurt.
Organisations such as the NHS and BBC (collaborators in the OneYou C25K app), UK Athletics and parkrun have done a great deal to improve people’s health by getting them into regular running – it'd be great if they got their heads together again to ensure they keep it up.
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