FIRST CLUB RACE
Well that was something else!
With the club only being 9 months old and less as a fully affiliated club we were not in a position to offer a club championship this year...but we didn't want to miss out on the fun, competitive atmosphere that comes with turning up as a club to achieve local race.
One of our members Tom suggested the Men's and Women's 10k as a good race for members of all abilities to target, whatever their racing experience. A downhill start, known roads, big crowds and a Murrayfield finish were his cited reasons. And he was right! What an event.
Around 40 club members, some who have never raced before, turned up in their shiny new kit and absolutely smashed the race. It was raining PBs with incredible runs from our members, everyone walking away proud of their achievement (PB or not!).
Most importantly their positivity and support from the club to their fellow members was astonishing. Dom and Alan, the founders of the club both said that coming down Lothian road to cheering WERC members was one of their favourite moments. Not just of the race, but their whole WERC experience.
In-fact it was excellent that the Men's race was at a different time than the Women's as it allowed the men to get to the final corner to see the female contingent of the club storm past. It was lovely to repay the favour of support that was shown to them earlier in the day.
We were even approached by a Metro Aberdeen runner who wanted to tell us how amazing he thought our club was, our positivity shining through...and I quote "Everyone is so positive, cheering each other on. That's what a running club should be".
For full disclosure, his daughter is one of our members, but that only makes the compliment more authentic.
After the race it was off to the local pub where we had our first ever WERC social. After some amazing but tough efforts people were happy to take the load off, share stories and drink copious amounts of alcohol (and munch on surprisingly good cheese and ham toasties). It was a lovely moment to see the "community" part of our values set come to life.
Amazing runners of ALL abilities. Incredible positivity. Today was a day where we really lived our values
Thank you, from the committee, coaching team and co-founders, to every single member of West Edinburgh Running Club, whether you ran today, cheered us along (big thanks to Alison and her son for the chocolate and cheering!) or wished everyone well on Facebook. Our values of inclusivity, quality and community shone through.
What a club.