Our partnership with Sunday Run Club, why it’s no longer just for Sundays, and how you can get involved wherever you are.

We’re made for all sports, but there’s something about running that is particularly close to us at Freetrain. For a start, there’s the freedom, the challenge and the thrill of the chase. But when we run together as part of a community, there’s also the companionship, the company and the cheering each other on that we love. In fact, we’re all about that. That’s why we partnered up with the Sunday Run Club, and why, contrary to the name, we’re now running way more than just on Sundays. Whether you join us locally or from afar, read on to see how you can get involved.

Where:

Sutton Park, (Banner gate entrance) Sutton Coldfield, North Birmingham

When:

Sunday, 9AM

Monday - Friday, 5AM

How far:

8km Sunday

5km Monday - Friday

Sunday Run Club was originally set up by 25 year-old Grant Dempsey from Kingstanding in June 2022. Although he had no expert running experience, he simply enjoyed running with friends and felt that more people should be able to come along and feel the benefit of it.

We caught up with the run club in March this year and finally in May, we started setting our 4:30AM alarms to join the 5AM 5KM (we know that’s a lot of numbers). In the beginning there were just five of us early birds, and now we have around 50 people joining us to see the sunrise and get their 5K done before breakfast. Good things clearly come in fives, so next up we’d like to see 500 of you joining us.

As represented by Grant, there’s no criteria to join Sunday Run Club. The group is completely diverse and welcomes every age and ability. It’s full of people who want to focus on improving their overall fitness and stamina and want to be better with every run they do. As a group, everybody comes along to support each other in the pursuit to get round the course, to get fitter and faster each week, and to feel how uplifting it is to get that early morning run done.

When we saw what Grant was doing with the run club, we saw that his values aligned with everything we are at Freetrain. You don’t need experience or expertise to execute an idea or become a leader. All you need is the ambition to be better. That’s why we’re up at 5AM each morning with the run club as it’s main sponsor, and over the next few months, we’ll be touring around different cities too.

So set your alarms and come and join us whenever you like, or keep your eyes and inbox peeled for information on when Sunday Run Club is coming to your city. And in the meantime, keep tagging us in your Instagram progress pictures and post-workout stories using the hashtag #bebetter so we can share it with the community. After all, we become better by getting there together.

Written By Alex Shaw