Dave Sinclair
True motion ambassador &
Albany road run club leader
We recently had the pleasure of reconnecting with our esteemed Brand Ambassador, Dave Sinclair, during his track event with the Albany Road Run Club. Immersing ourselves in Dave's extensive running background, we gained valuable insights from his dual roles as a seasoned runner and dedicated coach. We were eager to tap into Dave's expertise and uncover his advice for those considering joining a run club.
What inspired you to start coaching Albany Road Run Club?
I used to actually just be a member of this run club many years ago and they found themselves without a coach. And I'd recently done my run leader qualification at the time. This is about six years ago now. so I offered to start coaching the club and as I say, that was six years ago. The club has come on leaps and bounds now. We've got so many members. And there's an ethos of the club, which is a combination of training really hard, putting lots of effort in, but it's all about the community of the club as well, and tailoring the sessions so that they're suitable for all different abilities. And that's why it's grown so much, I think, because there's something for everyone at Albany Road Run Club.
We've had a lot of success with the club. I was lucky enough to get coach of the year back in 2019. only last October we won club of the year as well for Run Wales. I’m really pleased about that. I really liked getting that club award because it was also in recognition, not just of what I do, but all our run leaders do as well and what all of our members do. So we all won that award, which makes me really happy.
What would you say to someone who is interested in joining a run club but feels intimidated or unsure?
I remember going to my first run club session at a club in Cardiff many years ago, and it's really daunting. And I can understand people feeling like that. But what people always find is like three or four minutes in, they realise there was nothing to worry about. And they're enjoying themselves, chatting away with people they've never met before. But in a couple of weeks, they're really good friends with them. and they wish they had started coming sooner. You think maybe, am I going to be tested or something? You know, on my running ability?And it's never like that. The Run Club will always look after you.
Thinking about joining Albany Road Run Club?
“Albany Road Run Club Run Club officially meets twice a week most weeks, on a Tuesday evening and a Thursday evening. Tuesdays are generally a social run. Nobody gets left behind and we have a couple of different distances as well. Thursdays is the harder stuff and it's the type of stuff that you wouldn't want to do on your own, like hill reps, speed sessions or even track sessions. But somehow doing it all together makes it that much more fun.” ‘ Dave Sinclair
