Frequently Asked Questions

These are some of the common questions we receive in our Info mailbox. If you don’t find the answer you are looking for or you’d like to contact us anyway, you can do so by contacting us here via our web form.
How much does it cost to join?

Membership is £50 per calendar year which includes all Club nights, coaching advice, access to the GVH Facebook Forum, insurance, your affiliation to England Athletics and the costs of running the club. If you prefer to pay this in 2 installments then you can pay £25 in January and £25 in July. Those joining after June will only be charged £25 for the half year.

I am new to running, do you accept beginners?

GVH is a very sociable and beginner-friendly running club. We have various groups based on pace and ability and a lot of friendly support and advice on hand to help you get going and improve.

I want to improve my running. How can you help me achieve this?

We have several groups that are based on pace and ability. The faster groups follow structured training plans aimed at improving and targeting races. The slower groups are suitable for general fitness, beginners and improvers. We encourage people to move between groups as and when they want to. We have many club members who have achieved great improvements in a short space of time, however we don’t pressure people into doing any more than they want to.

Do I have to attend every session and/or run races?

There is no obligation to attend a set number of sessions per month or to feel any pressure to race. Once you have decided you would like to join us then you have access to all of the Club’s coaching advice, social events and training sessions. You are welcome to come to as many or few club nights that you wish.

I have signed up to do a marathon or half marathon. Can your club help me in my training?

GVH has a long history of helping people to achieve this. We have many seasoned marathon runners who have often joined after running our renowned London marathon training runs in January, February and March. Many have gone on to stay with us and enjoy many happy years at the club.

Is there a social side to the club?

We have a very active social side and this is something we are always keen to promote. Some of us gather in the Steamcoach pub every Thursday night opposite the clubhouse in Boxmoor. We also have 2-3 running weekends away per year which we encourage, a few other functions throughout the year and adhoc gatherings for birthdays etc.. We are one big Family and like to reward ourselves for our endeavours!

When and where do you meet, Who do I ask for and Do I have to join straight away?

We meet at Boxmoor cricket club from 6:45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you ask for either the Women’s or Men’s Captain (details under Who’s Who) they will show you around. If they are not available just ask for a Committee member.  The first couple of sessions are free so you can see if the club is for you. Then normal membership costs apply.

I’ve seen your Marathon training runs advertised online. Are these open to anyone?

Our marathon training runs in February and March are aimed at ALL runners and are therefore especially appealing to beginners or inexperienced runners. They do also attract regular club runners. We have universal good feedback for these events in Runners World and they are well known in the local area.

We charge £10 on the day and encourage pre-registration (with a limited number of places available on the day). There is also currently no limit on numbers or finish time, though we do ask you to let us know if you anticipate running slower than 12 min mile pace as we prefer to set you off earlier, to be fair to our marshals who give up their time for free.

They are renowned for their friendliness and the refreshments and enormous cakes at the finish. Not to mention being the only runs we know of that include a Jelly baby stop!

Help Us To Improve our FAQs

We get try to add as many questions and answers as we can. If you think there are some unanswered questions that would help club members then please submit them by contacting us here via our web form.