Starting a "running club" at work
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2012-09-11 2:00 PM |
Alpharetta, Georgia | Subject: Starting a "running club" at work I've been asked to help start a "running club" at my workplace. Anyone have experience with this? Here is some background - there are ~12,000 employees at my work place: We are partnering with the HR/Health initiative group, our young professionals group, and three executive sponsors. The goal is to create/maintain a social running group for all employees/abilities/experiences - and use the group to "brand" our company and its presence at local running races. Our creative group is going to come up with a logo or word mark and help with creating posters and running shirt designs. We are also engaging our friends in Legal to make sure we won't get in trouble or help with a waiver if we need one. Initial goal would be a 5K at the beginning of 2013, and a 10K in the spring. Re-assess after that. Ideas to incentive-ize signing up are a free running shirt and raffles/prize drawings upon completion of the goal running events. What other things are we not thinking of? Edited by lisac957 2012-09-11 2:01 PM |
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2012-09-11 2:07 PM in reply to: #4406086 |
Slower Than You 9566 Cracklantaburbs | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work Maybe start with two groups - one for "experienced" runners, and the other for those wanting to get off the couch. Keep things simple and fun for the second group, nice and structured for the experienced people. Our HR dept. has a Wellness Committee that I'm a part of. We get incentives like reimbursement for event fees and the like. It's nice, especially since we're a small organization. We started a beginner's weekly road ride here at work, kinda working it the same way. Edited by bcart1991 2012-09-11 2:09 PM |
2012-09-11 2:13 PM in reply to: #4406101 |
Master 2504 Southwest Iowa | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work bcart1991 - 2012-09-11 2:07 PM Maybe start with two groups - one for "experienced" runners, and the other for those wanting to get off the couch. Keep things simple and fun for the second group, nice and structured for the experienced people. Our HR dept. has a Wellness Committee that I'm a part of. We get incentives like reimbursement for event fees and the like. It's nice, especially since we're a small organization. We started a beginner's weekly road ride here at work, kinda working it the same way.
^^^ The above is very good. We tried something without having the two groups many years ago, and it was a bad thing. Reimbursement for the registration fees of pre-registered event (lowest cost) of the event was a big help also. Good luck!!!!
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2012-09-11 2:20 PM in reply to: #4406086 |
Elite 4344 | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work lisac957 - 2012-09-11 3:00 PM I've been asked to help start a "running club" at my workplace. Anyone have experience with this? Here is some background - there are ~12,000 employees at my work place: We are partnering with the HR/Health initiative group, our young professionals group, and three executive sponsors. The goal is to create/maintain a social running group for all employees/abilities/experiences - and use the group to "brand" our company and its presence at local running races. Our creative group is going to come up with a logo or word mark and help with creating posters and running shirt designs. We are also engaging our friends in Legal to make sure we won't get in trouble or help with a waiver if we need one. Initial goal would be a 5K at the beginning of 2013, and a 10K in the spring. Re-assess after that. Ideas to incentive-ize signing up are a free running shirt and raffles/prize drawings upon completion of the goal running events. What other things are we not thinking of? "I wouldn't want to join a running club that would have me as a member." Do you have a healthy living point system for your health insurance discount? You could get some points awards for participating in the running group. Swag and paying entry fees for races are always popular. Do you have an exercise center with treadmills? It gets dark and cold in winter in Kansas I hear. Medical evaluations and customized training plans for off the couch training programs. I am assuming that you have a decent company medical facility. Some challenge groups between departments. You corporate types are always soooo competitivie. The idea is great but I think your emphasis is on the side benefits and marketing publicity for the company. It has to be about running. Go for the people who need to start running. The people who already run do not need a club or social outlet for their running. They are already hooked. Go for the newbies. If you are running it, I bet lots of people join. |
2012-09-11 2:28 PM in reply to: #4406147 |
Slower Than You 9566 Cracklantaburbs | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work Another thing - Try hitting up some local businesses for "sponsorships" that will get their names associated with fitness, etc. Even some of the bigger national chains may be more interested in that kind of thing than you think, considering the size of your company. Shoe stores, grocery store chains, doctor/chiropractic offices, etc. |
2012-09-11 2:43 PM in reply to: #4406101 |
Alpharetta, Georgia | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work bcart1991 - 2012-09-11 2:07 PM Maybe start with two groups - one for "experienced" runners, and the other for those wanting to get off the couch. Keep things simple and fun for the second group, nice and structured for the experienced people. Our HR dept. has a Wellness Committee that I'm a part of. We get incentives like reimbursement for event fees and the like. It's nice, especially since we're a small organization. We started a beginner's weekly road ride here at work, kinda working it the same way. Yep that was one thing I forgot to put in my post. We'll have an "off the couch" group and a more experienced group. All abilities welcome. Our company will not pay or reimburse for event fees. |
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2012-09-11 2:47 PM in reply to: #4406147 |
Alpharetta, Georgia | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work tech_geezer - 2012-09-11 2:20 PM Do you have a healthy living point system for your health insurance discount? You could get some points awards for participating in the running group. No. Swag and paying entry fees for races are always popular. Not allowed by our company. The most we can hope for are subsidized running shirts. Do you have an exercise center with treadmills? It gets dark and cold in winter in Kansas I hear. No. Medical evaluations and customized training plans for off the couch training programs. I am assuming that you have a decent company medical facility. We have a partnership with the YMCA - good thought on engaging them. But I don't want to be in the business of creating custom plans for each participant. Thinking to link to a variety of training plans already out there on the internet. Some challenge groups between departments. You corporate types are always soooo competitivie. GREAT IDEA!!! The idea is great but I think your emphasis is on the side benefits and marketing publicity for the company. It has to be about running. Go for the people who need to start running. The people who already run do not need a club or social outlet for their running. They are already hooked. Go for the newbies. I kind of disagree about the experienced runners not joining. I've been running for 8? years and am hungry for a group like this. A group that is NOT the elitist runners in our town that turn people off, but an all-abilities group where we already have something in common (employer)... but agree ANOTHER target audience is definitely newbies. If you are running it, I bet lots of people join. |
2012-09-11 3:26 PM in reply to: #4406281 |
Elite 4344 | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work lisac957 - 2012-09-11 3:47 PM tech_geezer - 2012-09-11 2:20 PM Do you have a healthy living point system for your health insurance discount? You could get some points awards for participating in the running group. No. Swag and paying entry fees for races are always popular. Not allowed by our company. The most we can hope for are subsidized running shirts. Do you have an exercise center with treadmills? It gets dark and cold in winter in Kansas I hear. No. Medical evaluations and customized training plans for off the couch training programs. I am assuming that you have a decent company medical facility. We have a partnership with the YMCA - good thought on engaging them. But I don't want to be in the business of creating custom plans for each participant. Thinking to link to a variety of training plans already out there on the internet. Some challenge groups between departments. You corporate types are always soooo competitivie. GREAT IDEA!!! The idea is great but I think your emphasis is on the side benefits and marketing publicity for the company. It has to be about running. Go for the people who need to start running. The people who already run do not need a club or social outlet for their running. They are already hooked. Go for the newbies. I kind of disagree about the experienced runners not joining. I've been running for 8? years and am hungry for a group like this. A group that is NOT the elitist runners in our town that turn people off, but an all-abilities group where we already have something in common (employer)... but agree ANOTHER target audience is definitely newbies. If you are running it, I bet lots of people join. Hey Lisa, good luck with the club. If it goes well, maybe the company will spring for some of these ideas in the future. The lab where I work (3500-4000 employees) does have all these things so it is not like it is totally ridiculous. The company has made a big deal about wellness over the last 5-10 years using Mayo Clinic Wellness program. It seems to work. There are maybe 5 or so full-time employees devoted to the various wellness programs. I think it makes a difference on health. They published some corporate stats a last year showing various improvements. Take care. TW |
2012-09-11 3:44 PM in reply to: #4406388 |
Champion 10018 , Minnesota | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work When you're designing the t-shirts, think hard about color and the size of font/logos. I ran with a friend in the corporate division at a local race and the clubs with brightly colored shirts (opposed to white or a neutral) REALLY stood out. It would be cute to have a slogan or something catchy on the back of the shirt too. Everyone running behind a club member will have your company name forever connected to their memory of that race. |
2012-09-11 3:49 PM in reply to: #4406438 |
Alpharetta, Georgia | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work BikerGrrrl - 2012-09-11 3:44 PM When you're designing the t-shirts, think hard about color and the size of font/logos. I ran with a friend in the corporate division at a local race and the clubs with brightly colored shirts (opposed to white or a neutral) REALLY stood out. It would be cute to have a slogan or something catchy on the back of the shirt too. Everyone running behind a club member will have your company name forever connected to their memory of that race. Funny, other local company's running shirts are kind of what spurred this whole thing! Our creative group will likely limit to the corporate color palate (dark blue/white), but I'll try to get them to step outside of that a little. Thanks! |
2012-09-11 9:11 PM in reply to: #4406086 |
Iron Donkey 38643 , Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work Tell the ~12,000 employees to signup here at BT, make Ron and MarmaHammerBakingSodaDaddy happy campers, and see if you can get a discount or can be a lifetime member even??? |
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2012-09-12 6:10 AM in reply to: #4406086 |
Master 6834 Englewood, Florida | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work lisac957 - 2012-09-11 3:00 PM I've been asked to help start a "running club" at my workplace. Anyone have experience with this? Here is some background - there are ~12,000 employees at my work place: We are partnering with the HR/Health initiative group, our young professionals group, and three executive sponsors. The goal is to create/maintain a social running group for all employees/abilities/experiences - and use the group to "brand" our company and its presence at local running races. Our creative group is going to come up with a logo or word mark and help with creating posters and running shirt designs. We are also engaging our friends in Legal to make sure we won't get in trouble or help with a waiver if we need one. Initial goal would be a 5K at the beginning of 2013, and a 10K in the spring. Re-assess after that. Ideas to incentive-ize signing up are a free running shirt and raffles/prize drawings upon completion of the goal running events. What other things are we not thinking of? Lisa, our Wellness committee is starting a 2 month exercise challenge. As part of it, we will be competing as department/branches for who averages the most time per team. The final prize is a donation to a local community charity, that the team gets to choose. As part of the personal incentive, there will be some weekly prizes along the way. Another part of it is that a few of the runners have stepped up to help organize a C25K effort, with many employees taking part in the local Turkey Trot this year in their corporate T's. We also have a discussion board on our intranet, which we'll push more use of as we go along. So we have hit a few things: Community activism, corporate visibilty, personal reward, training partners, and a personal goal. Obviously, we are trying to appeal to as many as people as possible, so we have made an effort to cover something for everyone. And we are going to communicate the heck out of it through our intranet, at staff meetings, and through email. We are using a program put together by Blue Cross that can be used for logging. PM me if you need more. |
2012-09-12 1:53 PM in reply to: #4406086 |
Veteran 221 | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work Is there a Corporate Challenge type event in your area? I know the big one (JP Morgan Chase) doesn't seem to cover the middle of the country, but is there something else? A previous company I worked for sent a team to a local one. It was fun - there was a 5K, a predicted mile, a 3 mile relay, and an executive mile. Does your company have multiple sites? Another thing my former company had was an "Interplant 5K." That was also fun. Teams from multiple sites traveled to headquarters for this annual race. My current company doesn't technically have a running team, but there are a lot of us that run and we always field a competitive team at the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge (some people take this a little TOO seriously, but the rest of us enjoy the event). Our company doesn't pay for much either - no entry fees and it was pulling teeth to get singlets for Corporate Challenge and some $$ for a tent and food at the event. It sounds like a great idea by the way. Good luck with it! |
2012-09-12 2:18 PM in reply to: #4407995 |
Alpharetta, Georgia | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work tribeagle - 2012-09-12 1:53 PM Is there a Corporate Challenge type event in your area? I know the big one (JP Morgan Chase) doesn't seem to cover the middle of the country, but is there something else? A previous company I worked for sent a team to a local one. It was fun - there was a 5K, a predicted mile, a 3 mile relay, and an executive mile. Does your company have multiple sites? Another thing my former company had was an "Interplant 5K." That was also fun. Teams from multiple sites traveled to headquarters for this annual race. My current company doesn't technically have a running team, but there are a lot of us that run and we always field a competitive team at the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge (some people take this a little TOO seriously, but the rest of us enjoy the event). Our company doesn't pay for much either - no entry fees and it was pulling teeth to get singlets for Corporate Challenge and some $$ for a tent and food at the event. It sounds like a great idea by the way. Good luck with it! There is a small corporate challenge event in town, but our company doesn't/won't support it in an official capacity. We could look into sending people on our own though... We do have multiple sites (6 in the US and 4 overseas) - something virtual could be cool but I know the company won't officially sponsor or support a race. But again, maybe the running club could sponsor one on our own? I like that idea a lot! |
2012-09-12 3:35 PM in reply to: #4406086 |
400 | Subject: RE: Starting a "running club" at work I see several companies doing the same thing around Nashville (mostly in running races). Nissan Americas HQ is here and they seem to go all out to support healthy lifestyles for employees. I have friends there and the company pays race entry fees and gives racers tech shirts as well. They also are a big sponsor of a large organized bike ride and this year gave cycling jerseys to employees that participated. They probably had nearly 100 of the 1500 riders in the event decked out in Nissan cycling jerseys. |