Information about running and running clubs and meetings in Norwich and Norfolk will be posted here.
Norwich has a variety of running athletic clubs. One is the Norwich Road Runners, which was started in 1985 and currently has 260 members. The club is predominantly for road running but also does some cross-country running, and is for runners of all ages and abilities, for male and female. Based at the Sewell Park College Sports Centre, the club runs every Tuesday and Thursday in the evenings at about 7:00pm. Tuesdays is usually training on the sports ground whilst on Thursdays a road race of 8 miles or shorter happens. Training sessions on Monday are led by qualified coaches and are for beginners and are very popular.
Local races that occur in Norwich include the Wroxham 5K race in Spring/Summer and the Broadland Half marathon that takes place in March. In winter there is a cross-county series at Horsford near Norwich arranged by the Norwich Road Runners. Many runners in the Norwich area train for the London Marathon.
The City of Norwich Athletic Club is another running group for runners of all ages and abilities. They run sessions from Sportspark in the Western outskirts of Norwich. Monday nights are for the Improvers club who aim to train runners to run continuously for 30 minutes. Once achieved a runner is able to run in the group run on Tuesday evenings for a run of 6-10 miles. Thursday evenings are for efforts sessions, specifically for those who wish to train for speed for running in races. On Sunday mornings there is a longer run for those looking to run in the London marathon.
The club takes part in road running, cross-country, sportshall and track and field running. A running academy introduces 8-11 year olds to running and is in accordance with the UK Athletic’s Approved Code of Practice. Junior athletes enjoy running in the Southern Premier Division of the McCain Young Athletes League and include under 13s, 15s and 17s. Under 20s run in the Southern Premier Division of the National Junior Athletic League. Runners also take part in the East Anglian League.
Cross country running in the East Anglia area is popular too. There is the Ryston Runners Grand Prix held once a month at Shouldham Warren, which is good for those just starting out at cross-country with prizes for each age group for the first three finishers of the race. There are also aggregate trophies at the end of the series for the best times in races for each age group. Meanwhile, the McCain UK Cross Challenge is a more competitive race for all ages, including the age groups for seniors, Under 20s, 17, 15 and 13s at four different races in winter. The competition is designed for those who have already taken part in many cross-country events who wish to develop and many runners in Norwich choose to attend this event at locations across the country. The Norfolk County Championships is another race held in the Norwich area.
Both running groups use the facilities at Sportspark, at the University of East Anglia, where there is an eight lane athletics track.
