Membership

Our club motto is “fun, fitness, friendship”, and that’s really what the club is all about.

Lots of people have preconceptions about “how good” you have to be to join a running club. And that if they can’t run a 4 minute mile then they couldn’t possible join a club. Or that if they can’t run at least three times a week then they’re not “serious enough” to join a club.

Such preconceptions are wrong.

The truth is that we’re really happy for peope of any ability to join our club. It really doesn’t matter if you have to walk up some of the hills. You won’t be the only one, and no one will think any the less of you.

While many of our runners do enter races, some just come on club runs and non-running social events.

Plenty of members can’t come on a club run every week; that’s not a problem either.

Open to all

Allen Valley Striders do not have a pre-entry requirement. We welcome all abilities including novices. We can devise improvement programmes for our beginners if they want. Several of our members have joined with no running experience and have progressed with help and encouragement from the club to run half- and full marathons.

Allen Valley Striders welcome everyone from all communities and is not exclusive to the “local community”. Although ‘Allen Valley’ is in the name, the club has members from Haltwhistle, Haydon Bridge and Hexham, and we welcome you to join us wherever you live.

How to join us

Start by contacting us (email or Facebook). We’ll then invite you along to a couple of club runs so you can see if you enjoy running with us. If, after two runs, you want to join that’s great: We’ll get you signed up to the club’s communications. If you decide you don’t want to join, that’s also fine: We won’t take offense. If you want more time to decide, subsequent runs with us will be charged at £1.00 per run. However, any payments will be deductible should you decide to take up membership.

Membership year

The membership year runs from April to March the following year. Members joining part-way through the year will be charged a pro rata fee.

Club kit

Members participating in races or the Grand Prix will need to wear a club vest, which can be purchased through the club. If you’re not competing there’s no need for a club vest.

Some other merchandise can be bought online.

Volunteering

The club is an amateur club, run by unpaid volunteers and, like all voluntary organisations we always need more volunteer help. If you are able to offer your time, the club can arrange training, especially in areas like coaching. It does not need to be an ongoing commitment as we need help on an occasional basis for marshalling at events. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Club