Groups
Our Group Structure has been developed to give a guide to the sort of paces you might be training at according to your racing or general running goals.
Their main aim is to ensure you will run with like-minded club members in order to support each other in training. The race goals and pacing guides are deliberately quite broad for each group as runners are encouraged to move between groups as they focus on particular goals or aim to achieve new PBs! Also, smaller groups will often form within these main ones at certain points in a training cycle. The main thing is to use the groups as a supportive guide to your training, but never to feel ‘pigeon-holed’ by them. After all we are one big club and the greater variety of people you run with, the more you’ll get out of club life!
All groups train together on a Tuesday night interval session, which are designed by our Coaches to ensure everyone gets maximum training benefit. On Thursdays, which are a tempo or steady run of anywhere between 3 to 10 miles, groups will form and head out together depending on how far and how fast they are looking to run. There will be leader for these groups and the Coaches will give a guide on pacing and training focus.
If you are unsure which group you fit into, or want to try moving into a new group, our Coaches and Leaders are on hand to help out and give advice.
GVH welcomes runners of ALL abilities and the split amongst Groups described above is a very general one but we do ask that you are able to run 5k at a moderate pace before coming along to a club session and we will endeavour to help you in whatever your goals and aims.
Group 1 is naturally comprised of our fastest runners but they always encourage aspiring improvers to join them. Tuesday intervals are a chance to push the pace (and each other) hard, then Thursdays are a full on hard tempo effort. They like nothing more than welcoming aspiring runners into the fold – but beware they don’t wait for anyone, so you’ll need to know the route!! They have a wealth of experience and amusing running anecdotes that they are always happy to share.
Group 1 Aims:
Marathon 2:45 - 3:10
Half Marathon 1:15 - 1:29
10M 57 - 67 mins
10K 34 - 39 mins
5K 16 - 18 mins
Interval pace (min/mile) 5:00 - 6:00
Tempo pace (min/mile) 5:45 - 6:40
Long run pace (min/mile) 7:00 - 8:00
This group forms a strong core to the club and ranges from runners striving hard to get their PBs quicker and move up to group 1 to those who are gaining experience & confidence while moving up a gear in terms of pace and training intensity. So, on Tuesdays they bind the sessions together by chasing down our quickest runners while at the same time pulling through runners from group 3 who are finding their running improving and are looking for new challenges. On Thursday runs, there’s often a good mix of sub groups which means all training needs are covered.
Group 2 Aims:
Marathon 3:10 - 3:45
Half Marathon 1:30 - 1:40
10M 68 mins - 1:16
10K 39 - 44 mins
5K 18 - 20 mins
Interval pace (min/mile) 6:00 - 7:00
Tempo pace (min/mile) 6:40 - 7:25
Long run pace (min/mile) 8:00 - 9:00
This is an exciting group. Often populated by runners who have a few years running experience and are starting to see their training pay off, it’s a place where PB bagging and support for other runners is really strong. On Tuesdays they will work hard to hit ever quicker training paces and keep up with some group 2 folk, and on Thursdays they will run strongly together to gain confidence in running longer distances at sustained pace. Members of this group will also support runners from group 4 who are looking to take the next step in their running journey.
Group 3 Aims:
Marathon 3:45 - 4:25
Half Marathon 1:40 - 1:55
10M 1:16 - 1:29
10K 44 - 54 mins
5K 21 - 25 mins
Interval pace (min/mile) 7:00 - 8:00
Tempo pace (min/mile) 7:25 - 8:20
Long run pace (min/mile) 9:00 - 10:00
This group sees a mix of those new to running, improvers and also long term members of the club. As such, it’s a fabulous place to gain confidence and try new training techniques to take your running onto the next level – or the perfect group for a sociable, chatty run with like minded people! On Tuesdays they will run with the rest of the group with their session designed to give them the maximum training benefit, and it’s always great to see them working hard and taking inspiration from the other groups. Thursdays will see them take on a range of routes anywhere between 3-7 miles but never with any pressure.
Group 4 Aims:
Marathon 4:30 - 5:30
Half Marathon 1:55 - 2:30
10M 1:30 - 1:50
10K 55 - 75 mins
5K 25 - 35 mins
Interval pace (min/mile) 8:00 - 9:00
Tempo pace (min/mile) 8:30 - 10:30
Long run pace (min/mile) 10:00 - 11:30