After over a decade in the running crew scene and as a certified run coach myself (who doesn’t even want to lead a crew lol) I can confirm this level of oversight and safety is a necessity at the scale this scene has grown to. I’ll definitely be sharing
As a running coach certified by England Athletics, I have to have a DBS check every two years as well as refreshing my first aid and safeguarding training. Many people calling themselves coaches have no formal qualification. Furthermore, any UK running club that is properly governed will have a welfare and safeguarding lead and a proper process for dealing with complaints. I believe that there is room for different types of running groups to appeal to different people as many are turned off by the traditional athletics club type set up. But there needs to be a higher level set for all types of running groups or crew when it comes to looking after the runners turning up.
I have to do similar to retain my USATF certificate but I can tell you that it's not as rigorous as a DBS check. There would likely/hopefully be more if I were to work at a school/college but that's a whole different conversation.
After over a decade in the running crew scene and as a certified run coach myself (who doesn’t even want to lead a crew lol) I can confirm this level of oversight and safety is a necessity at the scale this scene has grown to. I’ll definitely be sharing
This is really fucking cool. Thanks for sharing! I’ll be passing it on to club leaders I know.
As a running coach certified by England Athletics, I have to have a DBS check every two years as well as refreshing my first aid and safeguarding training. Many people calling themselves coaches have no formal qualification. Furthermore, any UK running club that is properly governed will have a welfare and safeguarding lead and a proper process for dealing with complaints. I believe that there is room for different types of running groups to appeal to different people as many are turned off by the traditional athletics club type set up. But there needs to be a higher level set for all types of running groups or crew when it comes to looking after the runners turning up.
I have to do similar to retain my USATF certificate but I can tell you that it's not as rigorous as a DBS check. There would likely/hopefully be more if I were to work at a school/college but that's a whole different conversation.
Thank you for spotlighting this, Raziq and for (always) pushing conversations.
With Outrun The Patriarchy and the WhistleRunner, we aim to shape “crew gossip” to a meaningful culture change in our running scene.
(Even more with the boom we see in new running crews and brand activations).