I received an email from a friend the other day about how her two running friends were moving out of town and she wanted more running friends. It got me thinking about how, other than my husband, I didn’t move to London with any running buddies either.

Enter run clubs.  

photo credit: Boutique Sport

I’ve recently went for a run with Boutique Sport’s After Dark Run Club on Monday nights.  It’s a guided 8k run around central London for ladies who either don’t have the motivation to get out and run in the dark, cold winter, or those who don’t feel safe running alone in the aforementioned dark, cold winters (tired about my whining about the dark and coldness that has already set in? It’s ONLY OCTOBER). 

photo credit: Zest

I’ve run with a few free run clubs in London and this one was by far the best. It was a good mix of girls keen to run with a group and some of the cool brands you see on the blogs and twitter, was great to put a face to all those names I always see in my timeline.  Everyone was super keen to be out running even though we were in an absolute downpour rain shower.  The pace set by the lead group was fast and a good challenge to keep up with.  I’m somewhat of a Goldilocks when it comes to running groups as I like to be pushed, but I’m not setting any 20 minute 5k PB records so lets not go crazy.

photo credit: Boutique Sport

Come run with me – check out Boutique Run Club and email them to join in.

FYI: This post isn’t sponsored at all – I’m just super keen to join in on a run like this and support any sort of women’s running initiatives.  Short of a granola bar and coconut water at the end didn’t receive anything from Boutique Sport.

Photo credits as stated above – I still can’t run with a bumbag so no actions shots.