The natural next step

When your running group becomes a club

The group chat and basic booking app that got you here have done their job. This is what running your club looks like at the next stage.

Start Free Trial
Includes optional personal demo
75+ UK clubs
14400+ members
3,000+ active users every day

Most running clubs follow the same path. A few friends, a group chat, a simple app. Then more people, more sessions, and more that one person can carry in their head. connectMyClub is built for the stage when the informal way stops being enough.

A club's growth path

Recognise where your group is today.

1

A few people running together

It starts small. A handful of people, the same spot each week, organised over a group chat and maybe a basic app to book a slot and tick people in. That is all a group this size needs, and it works.

2

Regular sessions, more than one leader

The group grows. There is a rota of leaders now, sessions at different paces, and beginners turning up alongside people training for their next race. The group chat is getting noisy, and one person is doing most of the organising in their head.

3

Becoming a proper club

At some point it stops being a running group and starts being the club. That usually means affiliating with a governing body, taking membership fees, and welcoming juniors. It also means appointing a welfare officer, getting leaders DBS-checked, and safeguarding policies stop being optional.

This is the point where the informal way stops scaling. Not because the people running it are doing anything wrong, but because the club has grown into something the tools were not designed for.

4

Running it well, sustainably

This is where the workload that used to live in one volunteer's head needs somewhere safer and more sustainable to live. connectMyClub was built for exactly this stage, by people who have been that volunteer.

What changes at stage four

The concrete answers to "where does all that organising actually go?"

Club news, in one place

A feed-based home screen replaces the scattered group chats. Image-enabled announcements go out as push notifications, and a modernised message board handles the discussions that need more than a one-off post. Club news lives somewhere everyone actually checks.

Junior safeguarding

On by default
A set of independent protection switches are on by default for junior members, covering messaging, location sharing, profile visibility, and content. A guardian PIN system lets parents approve and control their child's account settings. Safe is the default; it requires a deliberate decision to change it.

DBS expiry reminders

connectMyClub sends your welfare officer an automatic reminder 8 weeks before any DBS check is due to expire. When a check lapses, access through the DBS-check gate is automatically revoked, so the club is never unknowingly relying on an out-of-date check.
ActiveSafe

ActiveSafe

Unique
ActiveSafe was built by connectMyClub, informed in part by the work of Our Streets Now, the national campaign tackling public sexual harassment. Members can record incidents anonymously, and reports are shared with local clubs via the portal to raise community awareness. Find out more

what3words emergency location

Group leaders get a what3words button in the app, on mobile, that gives them a precise three-word location at any moment on a run. If something goes wrong out on a trail or a country road, the emergency services can find them.

LiveMap

Unique
Real-time location sharing during training sessions, so someone always knows where the group is. Invaluable for long runs, trail sessions, and interval sessions that spread members across a large area.

Garmin and Apple Watch apps

Unique
Native companion apps for Garmin and Apple Watch carry club badges, upcoming sessions, QR check-in codes, parkrun barcodes, and race details. Members get everything they need on their wrist, and the club gets an experience no other platform can offer.

Training platform connections

connectMyClub connects with Strava, Garmin, Wahoo, and Suunto, so training data does not need to be re-entered by hand. Race results, weekly mileage, and activity feeds flow in automatically, and club records update themselves.

Taking on juniors?

If safeguarding is the reason you are looking at this page, there is more detail on how connectMyClub handles junior safety, ActiveSafe, incident reporting, and welfare officer tools on the safety page.

Read about safety & safeguarding →

Make running your club a breeze

Whether you are at stage two or already at stage four, connectMyClub grows with you. Start a free one-month trial, and if you'd like a walkthrough with the founder, just ask.

Start Your Free Trial
Includes optional personal demo

Get in touch →