Established November 2007
| Home |
|---|
About Us
Welcome to St Austell Running Club
St Austell Running Club (STARC) started in October 2007 to serve St Austell and the surrounding area and
is still actively recruiting members. All levels of ability are welcomed and a weekly training schedule has
been established to cater for experienced runners and newcomers / beginners.
Each weekly training session is part of a structured plan geared towards certain races, and can be as intense
as the individual wishes to make it. The training schedule is updated on a monthly basis and posted on the
STARC website www.staustellrunningclub.co.uk so club members and visitors can see in advance what the
session will be.
The STARC website is constantly up-dated and includes all aspects of club and Cornish road running
activities.
Based at Tregorrick Park (St Austell Rugby Club), we meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6.30 p.m. for a
6.45 p.m. training session. Experienced club members, and qualified coaches, take charge of running groups
ranging from beginners through to established runners, ensuring that no-one trains alone.
We have a ‘Foundation Group’, especially for beginners and these runners receive specialist support to gain
confidence, before joining the main training groups. A ‘Progression Group’ was started in October 2010,
where members from the Foundation Group can run further, but at the same pace. A rota of experienced
members and coaches has been established to take the ‘Foundation and Progression Groups’ each Tuesday
and Thursday.
A ‘Run / Walk’ beginners group was started in April 2010 and meets at 6.30 p.m. on Mondays, from the
Rugby Club. This group is now a firmly established part of STARC, and there are regularly up to 50
partaking each week. Many have progressed to the ‘Foundation Group’ and mainstream running groups of
the main club, and are now participating in local races. As a club, we are rightly proud of the Monday
Group.
Support and constructive help and advice is widely available throughout the club, so please ask if you have
any questions.
During the winter, we organise track sessions at the nearby Par Running Track where we hire the facilities
for floodlit speed sessions. Our club coaches encourage members of all abilities to improve their fitness with
shorter, faster training efforts.
These sessions are carefully structured and proving popular on a Tuesday at 6.30p.m.
Throughout the winter months the runs start from the Rugby Club and follow street lit routes around St
Austell and Carlyon Bay, but when the lighter evenings arrive we go ‘off-road’ as much as possible, using
the Pentewan Trail, cliff paths, clay trails, Rugby Club fields etc.
Longer social runs on a Sunday morning are very successful in building up stamina base and commence
from various locations around the area each week. Members run in groups depending on ability for longer
distances than is possible on clubnights, which are invaluable to build up stamina for longer races such as
half-marathons or marathons. It is much easier to run in company than on your own!!
The Sunday Run location is decided on clubnights and will be posted on the club website, or e-mailed to all
members through the club mailing list.
The STARC website is now well established and includes all aspects of running, training, race results, links
to other running clubs etc.
STARC About the Club February 2011
We now have around 270 paid-up members, with an average of 70-80 training regularly on Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
The club take a very active part in the Cornish Grand Prix series of races that are run across Cornwall and
encourage all our members to participate, even if it’s in the shorter races. In the 2010 Grand Prix series,
STARC entered the most runners per race, showing our commitment and enthusiasm for local races.
STARC assists with the Sticker 5 (5 Mile GP Race on June 18th 2011), the Boconnoc 5 (5 Mile Multi-
Terrain race on May 15th 2011) and the Eden Project Marathon (full and half marathons on 9th October
2010). All these runs have accompanying 1 Mile Fun Runs organised by the club.
We are intending to organise our own race in 2011 and will apply for Cornish Grand Prix status for the event
in 2012. This will be a 2 loop half marathon, with a single loop option for those not able to complete 13
miles. The date will be Sunday 22nd May, starting at the Rugby Club. The single loop race will be
approximately 10k and there will be a 1 mile fun run.
STARC will also host a Duchy Athletics Network 5k race at the Rugby Club on Wednesday 27th July 2010.
This is a part of the DAN 5k series of races.
In the 2009 Sticker 5 Mile Grand Prix Race, we created a record by being the first Cornish club to have over
100 finishers, when we actually had 113 finishers.
Club vests, in traditional St Austell purple, with the STARC logo are available and we also have t-shirts,
hoodies and reflective t-shirts and bibs for the winter months, when it is a club rule to wear reflective tops
for safety.
This club kit is available at the local specialist running shop at Carlyon Bay, Personal Best Running Shop.
If you are interested in coming along to a clubnight, bring your kit and trainers, with a reflective top for
safety (in Winter only), and you will be welcomed on any Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. Changing and
showering facilities are available at the Rugby Club.
Members are also encouraged to stop for a post-run drink or meal at the Rugby Club. There is a chef in
attendance on clubnights, cooking a variety of good meals at a decent price.
Annual Membership is £40 per year, from the Annual General Meeting in October 2010. £15 of this is paid
to the Rugby Club for facilities and Social Membership, with £5 to UK Athletics for an individual Race
Licence. The remaining £20 goes towards general club funds.
If you would like to join the club, please contact the Membership Secretary.
For further details concerning any aspect of STARC please contact Terry, our Webmaster, via the website or
any of the following Officers.
Chairman Paul Bullock 01726 61462 pauldbullock@btinternet.com
Secretary Darren Hambly 07977 247288 darrenphambly@yahoo.co.uk
Membership Secretary Lucy Wright 01726 817682 lucy@ashleywright.net