Recreational running

If you’re taking your first steps towards a new, healthier lifestyle, or simply looking for people to run with in a friendly group environment, why not consider joining your local athletics club or jogscotland group?

Athletics clubs welcome children and adults who want to take part in regular training sessions with qualified coaches, covering track, field or endurance events. Members can take part in scottishathletics championship events, and receive a £2 discount on entries into most other organised events (all those that are licensed by scottishathletics). Many clubs will deliver programmes for everyone from complete beginners to experienced runners. They can offer competition opportunities ranging from weekly parkruns up to ultra-distance and anything in between! Most  clubs have a road running or recreational section where beginners can come and join in. Some clubs may deliver a Couch to 5K to get you started. There are around 150 athletics clubs in Scotland – visit the scottishathletics club finder to find your nearest.

jogscotland groups are based on the principles of making fitness fun and accessible. Beginners’ groups really are for beginners. The expectation of a beginner is someone who can walk/jog for 30 seconds. We also have intermediate and advanced sessions for more experienced joggers who want to make the most of jogscotland‘s supportive, sociable approach to getting active. Some groups also offer walking sessions for those who are not yet ready to run, or who simply prefer to walk for fitness. There are more than 400 jogscotland groups using parks, pavements, and trails all around the country, led by trained jog leaders – visit the jogscotland group finder to find your nearest. You can also find lots of useful information about what to expect when you join jogscotland, in the Joggers section of the jogscotland website

Don’t feel ready to join a club or group?

That’s OK – we know many people prefer to try getting active on their own before going to a club or group for the first time.

You can download the jogscotland jogging programmes – from Walk for Fitness and Learn to Run, right up to 10K – from the jogscotland website. They are designed to make getting active achievable – for example, the Couch to 5K programme progresses at half the speed of many others. The programmes also include guided warm-up and cool-down videos to help prevent injury.

Give them a try, and you’ll be amazing how quickly you progress!

Visit the programmes on the jogscotland website.