City of Birmingham Striders is the UK Athletics affiliated running club in Birmingham City Centre.
The club emerged from a Saturday morning running group which trained Yoga Haven staff and members for the 2012 Birmingham half marathon.
At present we have four running sessions per week all led by experienced running leaders. Two sessions are on weekday evenings, the other two are on weekend mornings. We meet at 3 different locations all within the Ladywood constituency in central Birmingham. The club is diverse and inclusive.
Membership of the club includes affiliation to the sport governing body, UK Athletics. This individual membership provides discount off races and various other promotional offers. For the year from April 2014 the cost of membership is £25. We have club vests, t-shirts and hoodies.
Usually we run together in groups at conversational pace. The pace of and distance covered by the groups is determined by the people who are running on that day. Some of our sessions have specific coach-led goals focused on aspects of running technique which are designed to support our participation in races at local, county and national levels. We organise specific programmes throughout the year, including zero to 5k, 5k – 10k, endurance training, and cross country.
Our overall aim is to encourage participation in running at all levels supported by an experienced and qualified coaching team.
The legal profession can be a stressful environment. Deadlines, pressure to meet targets and be out networking leaves us tired and the last thing on your mind is exercising after a hard day. However, exercise has been proven to reduce stress (and waist lines) and improve productivity. Jane Plant, Associate Solicitor at Weightmans and winner of this year’s Associate of the Year award has been running since 2007 and is a coach at City of Birmingham Striders. Jane says “running is a great, social way to keep fit and an excellent stress buster. Whether you walk/run for 30 mins or train for a marathon, the effects are the same and anyone can start running. I couldn’t run for 5 minutes when I first started and within 2 years had run a marathon. Give it a try!”
for more details email striders@groupmail.com