Is There a Running Club in Southampton for All Abilities?

Ten years in the making. Every Monday. No egos, just runners.

Every Monday at 7pm a group of runners meet at Pinnacle Performance on Hamble marina.

Some of them belong to Netley Abbey Runners. Some of them have been coming to my sessions for years, long before any official partnership existed. Some of them are runners I personally coach who travel from as far as London just to be part of it.

North, east, west, and obviously south because that's where we are.

This didn't happen overnight.

How it started

Back in 2014 I opened my first gym at Hamble Point Marina. From the very start I wanted to build more than just a place to train. I wanted a community.

That's where the Monday running session began.

Fast forward through building Pinnacle Performance into what it is today, taking on a COO role, competing as a GB age group duathlete, and yes, taking my eye off this particular session for a few years while other things demanded my attention.

But I never stopped turning up.

Every single Monday, whether it was two people or twenty, the session ran.

Why the partnership with Netley Abbey Runners matters

A while ago that consistency turned into something bigger. A genuine partnership with our local running club, Netley Abbey Runners.

Now on any given Monday you'll find NAR members training alongside runners I coach personally, alongside people who've just turned up because they heard about it and fancied giving it a go.

That mix is exactly what makes it work. Club runners bring structure and camaraderie. My coached athletes bring focus and specific goals. Newcomers bring energy and fresh motivation.

Everyone benefits from everyone else being there.

What you actually get from a session like this

For me personally, coaching runners in person once a week is invaluable. I get to watch how people actually move, how they run under fatigue, what their form looks like when they're not thinking about it. That's information you simply cannot get from a spreadsheet or an app.

For the runners themselves, it's structure, community and accountability. Turning up on a wet Monday in February is a lot easier when you know people are expecting you.

Where next

Nearly a decade in and I'm more excited about this than ever. The goal now is simple. Grow it. Bring more runners in. Build something that Southampton and the surrounding areas can genuinely be proud of.

If you're a runner in Hamble, Southampton or anywhere within reach of a Monday evening, come and find us. All abilities welcome. No egos. Just runners who want to get better together.

Andy