Melton Running Club was formed in January 2014 by Rob Beers who despite being an experienced runner had problems often leaving the house to run due to emotional wellbeing issues. Seeing many runners around Melton was common although seeing runners in more than two`s was very rare, why not give runners somewhere to go where they can find new friends to run with? Where runners had a night they could all get together? Where we could give something for FREE to the community and where Rob could pass on his love of running to others. A very wet Monday in January saw around sixty runners for the first MRC session which has grown from Couch to 5K to several groups open to all ability of runner.
Since our inception in January 2014 MRC has helped seen a superb amount of runners to progress. The new beginners are ably assisted by more experienced runners who can describe their own journey and experiences. The Club has seen guest runners from Barrow Runners, Charnwood A.C, Long Eaton Running club, Huncote R.C, Desford RC, Wreake Runners, Holme Pierrepont RC, Leicester Roadhoggs, Anstey R.C, Rushcliffe a.c and particularly the local affiliated club Stilton Sliders
Over 800 runners have come to our mega succesful "Couch to 5k system" the most popular of which was January 2018
Our members have competed in various races of distance and terrain from 5k even up to Ultra Marathon distance! Small mention right here to Simon Proctor our very first Marathon runner, Shaun Staff our first London Marathon runner and Sarah Lawrence our first lady Marathon and VLM runner.
In 2015 we were voted East Midlands Run England group of the year and remain one of the largest and most successful Run England groups in the UK, Having in excess of 200 people in the park all good to go on a Monday evening is a regular occurence, MRC actively promote a non-judgmental culture, where everything and anything is possible. There are no boundaries on performance, religion, gender, and ethnicity - a club which is free to all in every sense.
We hope that we can help reduce the stigma around running clubs that they are all about speed and the elites, we are proud that a large number of our runners of all abilities have gone on to join affiliated EA clubs and all types of wonderful personal and team achievements.
We aim to create and sustain running opportunities for all.
We are wholly inclusive to disabilities, our founder is an England athletics mental ambassador and the club is proudly a member of the mental health charter for Sport as well as promoting youth sport via our membership with Sported and EA`s Game Changers, we believe running and supportive running helps with emotional wellbeing. We have had people run with us who have had secondary mental health issues, diabetes, anorexia, learning disability and visual impairement; we will do our best to help with any barrier to participation. MRC is one big friendly and supportive club, do come along its very easy to gain new friends and help with your running journey.
Melton Running Club is proudly the largest and most succesful RunTogether group ever in Leics and Rutland and one of the most succesful ever in the UK, we can also boast to be the most highly participated running club in Leicestershire
In 2015 we were voted East Midlands Run England group of the year and remain one of the largest and most successful Run England groups in the UK, Having in excess of 200 people in the park all good to go on a Monday evening is not uncommon, MRC actively promote a non-judgmental culture, where everything and anything is possible. There are no boundaries on performance, religion, gender, and ethnicity - a club which is free to all in every sense
2017 Saw our first venture into the Vale of Belvoir with a succesful 10 week couch to 5K at Long Clawson and January 2018 saw the launch of our official second night at Asfordby. The long term hope is to build further satellite clubs and C25k sessions outside of our main base at Melton, this is so the whole of Melton Borough is able to be part of a wholly positive and well meaning endeavour.
In Spring 2018 we were awarded considerable funding by England athletics Game Changers programme to help develop young people between the age of 14-25 to better them and their community
Historically, Melton and the surrounding region is not steeped in a running culture. With the advent of MRC, this has changed, with a bigger percentage involved in running than some towns traditionally recognized as sporting centers, like Loughborough. But the journey is not over, there are still many who could, and should engage, this continues to be the target market, running is for all not the selected few!
