Community in Focus: PureSport Run Club
The end of the pandemic marked a milestone for the world of running, and the curious surge of running communities has intrigued me ever since.
Despite the renowned existence of typical ‘performance’ running groups that have been around for a very long time, there has been a sweeping surge in more relaxed running communities which carry notable differences to the classic ‘Harriers’.
These running communities offer us a relief from our day-jobs, our home stressors and our isolation resulting from the rise in home-working. It really isn’t surprising that there has been a shift towards using exercise as a means to socialise, when our options for meeting others remained so limited for so long.
PureSport Run Club
PureSport Run Club was the first running community that I’ve attended (outside of Run Talk Run) in years. I was nervous. As a woman who values a “chatty pace”, I’ll forever remain in awe of runners who can push themselves to a sub-3 marathon or sub-20 5km.
The initial perception I had of PureSport Run Club was that it was perhaps a little too ‘elite’ for a girl like me. Their messaging and comms is one of aspiration and performance, which intrigues me as much as it intimidates me.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that despite the massive running imposter syndrome I felt prior to attending, the reality of the space they’ve created is far from intimidating.
As I stood in my newbie presence, I felt myself just absorbing all the notable differences and similarities between this particular running community compared to that which I have built with Run Talk Run. There were some really key takeaways from the success of the Run Club, so I thought I’d be kind and share them all with you here.
It’s a-okay to let the Community support your business
I sometimes feel my toes curl with an overwhelming ‘cringe’ when I consider being “sold to” at a community event. The way that PureSport marry up their product with the values of the community felt natural. The fact that their products literally are (primarily) focused on improving performance, enjoyment, and recovery from running, it made sense that they explained the benefits of each product and encouraged community members to trial a bit of each.
The lesson: Selling your products or service at community events is absolutely fine, if the value you’re providing the community members is aligned with the value of your product.
Their Temple
I was overcome with a healthy dose of envy when I walked into the PureSport HQ which acts as the Run Club base. I think it’s fair to say that every community builder aspires to have a base where their members can gather, ‘IRL’. PureSport have somehow absolutely nailed this for members with wide open spaces, cosy corners that encourage interaction and closeness alongside of course, the practicality of bag-drop spaces and toilets. Charles Vogl, author of The Art of Community argues that a temple (aka meeting place) represents the community’s strength and legitimacy. I felt that today.
The lesson: Your meeting place for the community really is important, it’s worth investing time and money if you a) have these resources available to you, and b) will make ‘IRL’ meetups a regular occurrence for members.
Personal welcomes
The Leaders and Founders of the Community were very forthcoming with welcoming new members into the space. Being extraverted is not a prerequisite to being a good Community Leader but being kind and welcoming is crucial to the first impressions of someone new to the space.
The lesson: no matter how awkward you might feel in approaching new people, your new members need this from you in order to feel safe and welcome.
Addressing the Community
The way in which this particular ‘Run Session’ was addressed to the attendees left no space or need for further questions or clarification. Within the introductory address to attendees there was a combination of: education, jokes, briefing, expectations. For someone new to this particular community I appreciated everything being made explicitly clear.
The lesson: don’t assume that attendees will know what’s what. No matter how long someone has been a member of your community, it is worth reiterating the purpose of the gathering and the intent of the activity being engaged with.
All in all, the learnings of what it takes to build a community to support the success of a business is something that is never-ending, and rather complex. What I saw from PureSport today though was something worth aspiring to; if not for their thriving community, but for their running abilities at the very least.
