Member Benefits

Aside from the people you will meet, here are a few great benefits you’ll realise when join Carryduff Running Club.

Member App

We’ll ensure you are registered with our Spond app when you sign up so you can register attendance at club training, events and outings.

Training Programmes

Our experienced coaches post training programmes for all members to avail of, with organised runs that align to training programmes. In January 2025, we have just launched :

• A C25K programme for 35 attendees
• Half Marathon Programme for First Timers
• Half Marathon Programme for Repeat / Advanced Runners
• Marathon Training Programme for First Timers
• Marathon Training Programme for Repeat Advanced Runners

Additional programmes such as 5K to 10K programmes, 5k PB programmes will be published throughout the year in line with the club calendar.

Club Talks and Advice

We invite experts in their field to come and talk to our club members. Recent talks include Nutrition for Runners and Sport Psychology in Running. These talks give our members the opportunity to ask questions about targets or goals they may have, whether they are starting out, just maintaining fitness or if they have a specific goal or target in mind.

Sports Psychology in Running – David Woods – September 2024

Nutrition for Runners – Lorna Cooke

Beginners Guide to Running

We provide all of our ‘Couchers‘ with a CRC beginners guide to running to help new runners get started – we know there are a lot of questions about everything from clothing to chaffing to running and breathing techniques and our guide is the perfect place to get started.

Club Gear

As a new member, you’ll get a new membership top or vest included in your membership fee. You decide!

We open our club store at regular points throughout the year where you can buy additional gear such as training vests, jackets, hats and more.

Official Club Events

Our members attend a variety of events and running festivals and you can track attendance on our Spond app so you can see who is going! Every year we pick a few events as official club trips. For example, in 2024 we ran a club bus to Carlingford Half Marathon and 10k, we had over 40 people run in the Belfast Marathon and relay events in April, and we had almost 40 members attend Amsterdam Marathon and Half Marathon in October 2024.

Club Athletics NI Affiliation

You’ll benefit from being part of a club who are affiliated with Athletics NI – see https://athleticsni.org/Clubs

You’ll also be able to register as an individual athlete via CRC if required for an additional fee of £20 which gives you additional individual benefits. For example, if you have a good for age time for an event such as London or Dublin Marathon, you may need to be a registered athlete to avail of entry. This can only happen through an affiliated club such as CRC.

Staying Connected

• WhatsApp Group: Once you’re a member, we’ll add you to our WhatsApp group for club news and views where you can arrange activities with members. There are often dedicated groups for different goals (e.g. beginner marathon programmes, Couch 2 5K)
• Facebook Page: Follow our Facebook page for updates here.
• Instagram : Follow our Instagram page for updates here https://www.instagram.com/carryduffrc/
• Twitter / X : Follow our Twitter / X account at https://x.com/carryduffrc 
• Strava Group: Many of our members use Strava to share their runs. Once you are a member, you can join the Strava group here to see what everyone is up to.

Training Sessions

CRC has regular training sessions that all members can join in with. These are official club sessions that also double as enjoyable social activities – you can train or run at your own pace.

Communications are sent out every week via the social app Spond to explain the coaching sessions/Club running nights for the week ahead, giving members the opportunity to select which sessions they wish to attend.

Some are slow runs, some are more interval or speed based sessions. If you are not sure, you can attend a session and run it as you see fit to see if it suits your abilities. If you need any further information, you can ask questions about the session directly on the Spond and a coach will answer your queries.

Examples of recent official club sessions are below, however these change from week to week. One of the benefits of joining CRC is to arrange your own runs with members at times that suit you.

Day	Description	Location
Monday	6.30pm Lough Moss 5km, 6.5km or 8km at a variety of paces.	Lough Moss Leisure Centre
Tuesday	6:20pm Speed / Interval session for advanced runners.	Knockbracken Hall or Graham House (Knockbracken Healthcare Park)
Tuesday	6:30pm Easy pace run with options between 3.5km and 5km.	Lough Moss Leisure Centre
Wednesday	6:30pm Speed / Interval session for improving runners.	Knockbracken Hall or Graham House (Knockbracken Healthcare Park)
Thursday	6:25pm Multi Choice	Ormeau Ozone across Ormeau Embankment
Friday	6:30am Rise and Shine Tempo run.	Varies each week – e.g. Eight South, Hydebank
Saturday	The club supports the parkrun. Many groups also complete a variety of long runs at different times in the morning.	Knockbracken Reservoir
Sunday	7:25am Long Run	Varies each week – e.g. Toasted Café.
Sunday	5-20k with 2 start times 8.30am or 9.30am.	Lockkeepers Inn along the tow path