The Frontrunners Clinic page supports a community of runners training in Victoria, BC through the Frontrunners Victoria, Shelbourne and Westshore locations. Jan - May it is typically geared towards those wanting to prepare for the spring BMO Vancouver Half and Full Marathon Races, the TC 10k, and the Oak Bay Half Marathon & 10k. June - early October it is typically geared towards those wanting to prepare for the fall Royal Victoria Marathon Half-Marathon, Marathon & 8k Races. The clinic coordinators also create some custom training plans for participants training for other races. From mid-October - November we are offering a Trail Running Clinic.
_____
For the Half-Marathon, Marathon and Return-to-Run Groups:
Group runs are on Wednesday night and Saturday mornings with a pace group that suits the participant's personal running goals. Wednesday nights typically leave from the store (Victoria, Shelbourne or Westshore). Saturday long runs leave from a variety of locations around the Greater Victoria Area. From the start of the clinic, participants should be comfortable running steady for 45 minutes for the half-marathon clinic and 1 hour 15 mins for the marathon clinic. Participants for the Return-to-Run/Maintenance group should feel comfortable running at a steady pace for at least 35 to 40 minutes and be running at least a couple times a week. The Return-to-Run/Maintenance group will accommodate a number of paces, but you must be able to run 5 km in under 40 minutes at the start of the clinic. The Return to Run/Maintenance option will follow the structure of the half and full marathon training (meeting Wednesdays and Saturdays with the group) but with reduced mileage and optional lower intensity workouts. If you don't meet these pre-requisites, please check out the Learn to Run Groups. Typical Meeting Schedule for Half/Full/RTR is Wednesdays and Saturdays. On Wednesdays there are 4 meeting locations: Early Bird Downtown (6am) (half & marathon only), Downtown Evening (5:30pm), Shelbourne Evening (6pm), and Westshore Evening (6pm). On Saturdays we typically meet at 8am* for a long run that starts from a variety of locations throughout Greater Victoria (switching each weekend).
*Some pace groups start the Saturday long runs earlier than 8am, particularly in the Summer.
_____
For the Learn to Run 5k and 10k Groups:
Group runs are typically at 6pm on Tuesdays (Shelbourne or Downtown) or Thursdays (Westshore) with a pace group that suits the participant's personal running goals. The runs typically leave from the store (Victoria, Shelbourne or Westshore). There are usually two groups - the 5k group for those who have not run before or who haven’t run for a while and want to start from scratch, and a 10k group for those who have completed the Learn to Run 5k clinic recently or who can run/walk for 25 minutes at the start of the program. The clinic will meet once a week as a group, with two other ‘homework’ run/walks to be done during the week. Sometimes we amalgamate the Shelbourne & Downtown locations if we don't have enough runners to allow for separate locations.
_____
For the Trail Groups:
Group trail runs are on Saturdays at 8am. Before the start of the trail clinic, participants should be running several times per week, with a comfortable weekly longer run of at least an hour (any pace!). This clinic is currently offered once per year, mid-October to mid-November. This page provides information and to encourage participants.
