Home page link icon Contact page link icon

Welcome to Community Running!

We are a fun running club in the Boston-metro area. We offer coached workouts each week and year round. Our workouts are perfect for everybody, regardless of age, experience or ability. Our core membership is made up of "middle-to-back of the pack" runners who run for fun, fitness, and often for a good cause. We are also a USATF registered club.
 

Our Workouts

Mondays

People start showing at 7pm at the MIT outdoor track, and at 7:15pm, we head out for an easy 1.6-mile warmup run. We then split into two groups. Coach Mike P. works with the 5K and 10K runners while Coach Jeffrey works with the half- and full marathon runners.

Wednesdays

Just like on Mondays, we meet at the MIT outdoor track and start with a warmup run outside starting at 7:15pm. Coach Mike C. and Coach Nicole design their workouts to be a good complement to Monday's workouts.

"Am I too slow?"

No. Trust us.

We get that question a lot, and starting from the Coaches and the Board on down, Community Running is very clear on its mission: we are here for the runners you find at the back of the pack in races. If you can run two miles, you're absolutely ready to join us. If you're not quite there yet, no problem -- just drop us a line at info@communityrunning.org and we'll get you there. It's common that CR is the first time people have ever done a track workout, and sometimes people need a few weeks before they can do a full workout -- for instance, our current club president took 4-6 weeks before he could do a full workout when he first showed up.

  

Social Media

Our facebook page is http://facebook.com/communityrunning

Community Running Association of Boston
Community Running Association of Boston
  

How Do I Join? What do I need to know?

It's really easy to join.
  • First, sign up for a free two-week trial membership. (Current members can renew their membership at that link as well.) [1]
  • Then, we strongly encourage people to join our low-traffic mailing list to get news and announcements. We also have a social mailing list (higher traffic) and grouprun mailing list for our weekend long runs. Joining those two are optional, depending on your interests.

Then, just show up! We recommend people show up dressed to run (layer appropriately for weather) and bring your own water (there are no nearby drinking fountains). If you need to change, there are bathrooms available in the nearby buildings.

When you show up, please introduce yourself! Our members come and go as their schedules allow, so we may not spot a new face in the crowd.

For people new to doing track workouts, we have a guide to track etiquette. If you have questions, just ask!

If you're coming by T, get off at either the Kendall or Central stops on the Red Line. If you're coming by car, you can park anywhere along Vassar St. If you're lucky, you can get a parking spot across the street from the outdoor track, but you may need to head further west to find a spot. Parking is free after 6pm.

[1] Note: we're flexible on membership costs, so if you need more time to decide, or if money is unusually tight, please talk to any Board member or send email to info@communityrunning.org. We don't want money to be a barrier to people joining us.
 

Core principles

While we encourage everyone to come to our workouts to get a sense of who we are, sometimes it helps to have things written out. To that end, the Board has formulated these core principles that encapsulate the spirit of Community Running. The Board uses these principles to help guide its decision-making when it considers proposals regarding activities that Community Running has not previously engaged in.

  1. We are a laid back and friendly club that welcomes runners of all types.
  2. We believe in our members having equal access to and personalized attention from our coaches.
  3. We provide a supportive community and network of runners from which members can learn from and indulge in all things running.
  4. We socialize through a few, high-quality events per year.

If you have any questions or comments about our core principles, please contact us via info@communityrunning.org.

Anti-Harassment Policy

Community Running has Anti Harassment Policy that we take seriously. If you have any questions about it or need to file a report, please contact a Board member.

What kind of runners do you have?

The spectrum of runners that CR attracts is very large, from people who are ramping back into running (if you can run our warmup loop of 1.6 miles, you'll be fine) to people getting into racing.

Starting in 2017, CR is now encouraging its members to enter the USATF Grand Prix series.

Swag!

We are selling off our current inventory of t-shirts for $20, but we're starting to run out of popular sizes.

Our preferred source for swag is our Zazzle storefront.

Upcoming Events