Competitor - June 2017

(Sean Pound) #1
Photos: istock

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The BenefiTs


Have some fun
As the cliché goes, being a long-distance run-
ner can get lonely at times. A group makes it
more fun, especially if you’re a busy runner.

“You don’t have time for work, exercise and a
social life,” says kevin Jermyn, executive direc-
tor of the chicago Area Runners Association
(cARA). Group runs allow your exercise time
to double as your social time—as long as you
make friends with the people involved! “We’ve
had a ridiculous number of people who have
gotten engaged or married [after meeting in
the running group.]”

Be accountable
meeting a group (or even just another person)
also makes you accountable to actually getting
the workout done. For most of us, that forces
us to stick to our training plan.

“if someone’s waiting for me, i’m not going to
quit,” tuhabonye says. that’s particularly true
for early morning workouts and hard runs.

Push yourself
most runners, said Jermyn, have no problem
with their regular easy runs, but to go long or
to go fast, “they have to have other people for
that,” he says.

We might not even know what we’re capable
of until we push ourselves in a faster pace
group or try to keep up with our fast friends.

Get guidance and advice:
those friends can also be a good source of
advice. more than half the people who join
cARA’s marathon training program are first-tim-
ers. For someone running their first marathon,
there can be a lot of information for them to
absorb. the way the groups are structured
means they don’t have to learn it all at once.
instead, Jermyn says, they can pick up tips
and advice from the experienced runners and
coaches along the way.

this is especially true for coached groups fol-
lowing a consistent training plan.

how and


why To


Run wiTh a


GRoup
By Kelly O’Mara

Fifteen years ago, Gilbert
Tuhabonye started a running
group in Austin, Texas, “to cre-
ate a community,” he says.
Today, the Burundi
genocide survivor’s group,
Gilbert’s Gazelles, is one of
the biggest and most popular
in the area. And his runners,
he says, inspire him as much
as he inspires them. The weekly
workouts give them all a chance
to add some “joy” to their train-
ing—a Tuhabonye principle.
But group workouts can
come in all shapes and sizes—
from elite performance squads
to casual get-togethers. If
you’re ready to start running
with a group, there are some
pros and cons, and things to
know before you go.

44 Training

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