“Before joining the club my 10k times where about 44 - 45 minute mark and my half marathon time was 1hr 40 mins. I trained on my own with little or no speed work and only occasionally running longer than 6 mile. I felt it hard to motivate myself if it was cold, dark or wet so most of the winter was a no go. When I was training by myself I would have described myself as fit and felt this was as fast as I could go.

Joining the club was one of the best decisions I have made as my PB for the 10k is now 40.48 and I don't think it will be long till I’m under 40 mins, my half marathon time is now 1hr 31mins. The difference in my fitness since joining is significant; I can run longer and faster and over more days.

The club is brilliant there is loads of encouragement from everybody and there is a wealth of experience to tap into. Before I joined I worried about being the slowest member or not keeping up but its not like that, there is always someone to run with at your pace even as you improve, and the sessions are set up so that nobody gets left behind. The varied training and the club races help to make training sessions something to look forward to instead of something to dread and you get better without realizing it.

As well as improving my 10k time I have had the opportunity to try cross country, hill races and run for the club in relays which has added something different to me as runner and is great fun.

Finally the club has helped me make a lot of new friends and we always have a good laugh at training sessions, races and the club nights out.