Course Overview

The Leadership in Running Fitness (LIRF) course is designed for people who would like to get more people running, help people in an existing group improve their ability, or make social runs more enjoyable and purpose driven. It delivers the skills needed to deliver fun and safe sessions, catering for all abilities, and even provides insurance once you’ve registered your group with Run England.

The course runs over a single full day, 9:00-17:00, with a few practical sessions thrown in to keep you fresh and practice your leadership skills. Covering topics from social and cultural barriers to participation, to footwear and injury prevention, the LIRF really does give a good level of knowledge for anyone hoping to lead group sessions or start a running group.

I attended the course being held at the University of Hertfordshire as part of Coach Education Week, but there are loads of different venues available up and down the country.

On the day

After an introduction from our lovely course leaders, Suzy Fitt and Neil Costello, we quickly got the group atmosphere rolling with tasks designed to get us chatting. Every portion of the course was made up of slides or a presentation, group discussion and interaction, and a practical activity, whether physical or writing up a plan as a group. This helped to keep it really interactive and fresh.

Why run?

The first topic for discussion was barriers to participation. This covered everything from perceived barriers, such as fear of not being good enough, or cost of clothing and equipment, to cultural and physical barriers, for example the limitation of certain religious clothing, or disability. In each scenario we were tasked with coming up with ways of overcoming the issues, whether that was careful planning and selection of our group leaders, appropriate advertising of sessions or awareness of safety within the group and sessions.

In contrast to the popular reasons people give NOT to run, we then focused on reasons TO run, and the health benefits of running. Physical benefits, like weight loss, improved cardiovascular fitness, increased muscle strength and counteraction of natural bone demineralisation, as well as psychological benefits of improved self esteem and confidence, social interaction and reduction in stress, anxiety and depression.

As leaders, we were encouraged to focus on being “individually centred” leaders (not self-centred, that’s completely different!) by focusing on helping people on an individual basis. By placing the needs of the individual before the interest of the leader or the rest of the group, people will feel more welcome and valued, and will feel more encouraged to take responsibility for their own development.

Warming up and cooling down

Following an introduction to planning sessions, including risk assessments and safety measures, our first active session of the day was focused on delivering an effective warm up. We learned how to keep our groups engaged, introduce ourselves and our plans, and build up intensity slowly and effectively for the main session.

We then took a look at the cool down, and stretching, learning correct instructing technique in order to effectively demonstrate stretches to the group. As part of this, we reviewed the purpose of stretching for a running group, as well as the benefits of flexibility exercises performed separately.

Photo courtesy of Rob Hardwick of Herts Sports Partnership @coachingherts on Twitter

The main event

After a lunch break we dove right back in with factors of fitness, and factors that affect performance. This was tied up with the principles of training and the FIT factors to help us develop effective plans for an individual to help them reach a goal. We also looked at how to define goals in order to make them achievable and measurable (I’m sure you’ve all heard of SMARTER goals!).

Our next active session involved providing a full run session, from warm up, to main session, to cool down and stretches. We were given workout cards around which to build our main sessions, which helped us learn how to cater for all abilities, and were given pointers on what we could do to improve our sessions. This was such a useful exercise, helping us to practice leadership skills as well as making our mistakes during the course so we didn’t have to make them in our own sessions!

Photo courtesy of Rob Hardwick of Herts Sports Partnership @coachingherts on Twitter

Keep on keeping on

Our final focus of the day was on common causes of injury in running, how to prevent injuries through gradual build up in training, and what to do if you or a group participant was to get injured. We also had an overview of running footwear, including how to check for correct fit.

The course ended with some information about how to use our qualifications, the support available from Run England and UK Athletics, and how to progress with more learning should we wish to.

In Summary

Having been a runner for a number of years I thought I knew it all, but the Leadership in Running Fitness course really did open my eyes to a variety of elements I hadn’t previously considered. I can honestly say that I learned an awful lot, both in terms of practical sessions, such as the loop back, relays and out and backs, and in terms of the logistics of setting up a group, delivering safe and effective running sessions and designing running plans targeted towards specific goals.

Not only did I learn the skills needed to go on a lead a group, I also came away feeling really encouraged. It’s great to know that Run England are always there, providing support for new groups, and inspiring people to join in with this fantastic sport across the country. I really do hope that funding for the coach level course continues, so that more people can progress to becoming Coaches in Running Fitness (the next level up from Running Leaders).

How to join in the running revolution

Leadership in Running Fitness courses are available up and down the country, check out Run England’s website here to find a course near you, or to find an existing Run England group, use this Activity Finder.

To find out more about the benefits of running with a group check out our post “Could you be a running leader?”.