About Barrow Runners...

Barrow Runners – Who are they?

Barrow Running Club (Barrow Runners) was formed in 1985 by a group of enthusiastic runners living in and around Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire.

Some 30+ years of existence and the club is fortunate enough to still have a few of these founder members involved and indeed still running with the club, although maybe not as quick as they were then!

The club is a founder member of the Leicestershire Road Running League, which for many years was the backbone to the clubs running activity. The club has had mixed success over the years but in can boast victories in the Leicestershire Men's Senior, Men's vet, Female Senior and Female Vets categories, with several runner up and third placed spots along the way.

In 2017 the club devised it's own Club Championship, selecting a range of races of varying distance and terrain that are accessible to all members.

The Club is also a member of the Derby Runner Cross Country league, which holds events over the winter months, off road, in locations across Leicestershire and south Derbyshire, which has proven popular with Club members.

Although we have been successful as a club we are far from an 'Elite Club' where focus is on the taking part more than the winning. There is plenty of friendly competition between members, before we start involving other Clubs. But before you think this is about competitive runners, this is just not the case. Our last runner home in any race or training run is as important as the first one in and often gets a bigger cheer and support.

How big is the Club?

In its early years the Club survived on around 40 members, but with the popularity of running increasing and the Club's appeal widening, membership has grown to an annual average of approx 200.

Although the Club name remains that of the Barrow Village where original founding members were mainly based (and Barrow remains very much central to the Club's history and focal point) our membership spreads well beyond the Village, with most of the Membership living outside the village these days. Members come from, Barrow, Loughborough, Sileby, Mountsorrel, Quorn , Wymeswold, Woodhouse Eaves, and other local villages.

Where will you find us?

The club's main base is Humphrey Perkins High School and Community Centre on Cotes Road in Barrow upon Soar.

Trainng locations do vary, please see the Training page for information.

What else do they do?

As you can imagine, with a Membership of around 200 there are plenty of other things going off. Individual members take part in races all over the world, from short distance to ultra distance and all terrain.

The Club has also formed a Triathlon base, with a small group of very enthusiastic members taking part in a variety of distances from Sprint to long distance / Ironman Triathlon. The Club is affiliated to British Triathlon Association.

As well as fully trained coaches helping to assist and develop runners (if you want developing that is!) the Club also arranges periodic 'expert talks' where experts in the fields of Nutrition, Training, injury prevention etc, present to our members usually after a training night.

Is there any fun?

Well as you would expect those of us involved think the running is fun (well most of the time!), but there are also regular social events which usually involve food and drink.

The Club has an annual Dinner Dance / Presentation evening which has been hugely popular over the years, and often leaves plenty to gossip about whilst on training runs for a few weeks afterwards.

At Christmas we have our Christmas Party, which is low key affair, usually held at our Presidents (one of our founder members) House, following a training run in Fancy dress around the village.

A Summer BBQ is also usually held following our Summer Race.

Members also arrange trips to different locations to take part in races or just training, sometimes including weekends away and we have been known to venture overseas on the odd occasion.

Can I get involved with the organisation of the Club?

The Club is run by an elected committee from the current Membership. Voted in at the annual AGM to represent the interests of the Membership. All are welcome to put their names forward for election to join the organising committee and new people onto the committee are always welcomed.

The Club is keen to offer the very best of coaching that we can, with a huge amount of effort input into recent years to develop this. We have an excellent base of coaches who gel well together but again we are always keen to continue to develop and enhance this side of the Club. Anyone interested in coaching are free to talk to the existing coaching staff or committee members to start to get involved.

We are also very fortunate that we have an army of friends and relatives who give up their valuable time to help in the organisation of the various race events that we stage. Without this valuable help we could not hope to host what are generally accepted as excellent events by the running community. If you are able to help at events, marshalling, water stations, time recording, first aid etc we would like to hear from you.

Do I have to join to run?

We usually suggest that prospective members come and try us first. We are happy for you to come along on a Tuesday and /or Thursday to see what we are all about for a few weeks. If after that you are happy with what you see then we would love to have you. We will need to ask you to make a decision to join after a few weeks as we need to ensure we have your details on record for insurance purposes etc.

How do I join?

Simply complete the Membership application found under the Membership section of this web site or contactour Membership secretary if you require further information.