Running Club

Sports & Recreation

Homepage | Events | Contact Us | Request to Join

Homepage

Are you looking to train for your first 5k?  Do you want to get to know people who are doing local roadraces like GR Marathon, 5/3 Riverbank Run, or Irish Jig?  Are you a seasoned runner looking for some long run cronies?  Do you long for the days of shenanigans during High School XC Meets?  Do you miss running through mud during XC meets?  Do you wish that college had a competitive, but not as time consuming at Varisty XC, group of awesome individuals with whom to run?!  Welcome to the Grand Valley Running Club--where you will find all of this and much, much more. 

Group runs meet throughout the week, usually on the Allendale Campus.  Come to meetings and events to network with other runners with similar abilities and goals (and for food and shenanigans--we love the shenanigans).

Who said running has to be all work and no play?  Past runs have included: nearly-naked runs usually during a snow storm or whilest handing out Valentines, mud runs through the ravines behind the Allendale campus, snowball fights (usually not with innocent bystanders), and costume runs for Halloween.

We are proud members of the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association (Yes, we are, in fact, quite legitimate).  The allows our members the option (this means not mandatory) of competing with other college running clubs like MRun from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Ball State, Indiana University, Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Ohio State University, and many more.  We compete in XC style races across Michigan and sometimes across the country.  The 2012 Fall XC Series can be found at http://www.clubrunning.org/races/.  We will not compete in every race listed there, but probably the Michigan Fall Classic (Ann Arbor, MI), Spartan Grand Classic (East Lansing, MI), Great Lakes Regionals (Bloomington, IN), and XC Nationals (Hershey, PA).

We also do optional road races (this means not mandatory).  There are many convenient races on the Allendale campus such as the Homecoming 5k sponsored by the GVSU XC team, Family Weekend 5k, and the Wheel Run.  We also travel for road races: Frozen Foot Five Mile in Traverse City, MI and the Irish Jig in East Grand Rapids, MI.

We also host our own 5k road race on the Allendale campus: The Grand Valley Turkey Trot. It raises over a thousand dollars for the Kids Food Basket (http://www.facebook.com/kidsfoodbasket).  There are usually around 300 participants.

We also enjoy eating things: Pasta dinners, Potato Parties, and Munchie Parties.

We also enjoy non-running activities: Bowling, Playing Frisbee, "Bond" Fires, "Bonding" in Hot Tubs, Rollerskating, & Holiday Parties with epic gift exchanges.  Fear not the "quotation marks."

Volunteering is a great way to help the local running community.  We course marshall for high school regional events.

We are proud to say that we are a strong group of individuals who are organized and make things happen. Fundraising is easy and helps us pay for races.  We have sold donuts, cleaned-up garbarge from campus, hosted bowling events, and hosted DQ icecream eating events. 

Please visit our extended website at  http://grandvalleyrunningclub.webs.com/ for information about dues and other shenanigans.

Direct any questions to our fanciful email address: gvsurunningclub@gmail.com.  We will not think you are a weirdo for contacting us. We enjoy emails and will get back to you.  If you are an incoming freshman and need more information, please let us know!

Add us on Facebook for the most up-to-date information on our whereabouts and shenanigans.

Meetings begin after Campus Life Night (be there or be lame) in the Fall.  They are usually every other Monday around 9pm at a TBA location on the Allendale campus.

Peace, Love, & Happy Running!