Glasgow FrontRunners: the starting line
In summer 2010, Simon had decided he was ridiculously unfit and piling on a bit of a belly (!), so it was time to get active; and a few questionable Grindr dates hadn’t helped his self-confidence either. ‘I’d never gone out for a run before I was in my 30s, and the prospect was a bit scary, so I felt the best thing was to start with friends.’ Gordon had never run outdoors: ‘I’d barely visited a gym in years, and I hated PE at school!’.
En route to a summer holiday in Spain, we stopped overnight in Manchester and were invited by a friend to join Manchester FrontRunners for a run along the canal. By this time, we’d had a couple of easy jogs around Pollok Park to build up confidence in running, but Manchester was a revelation! Getting fit, socializing, and feeling part of a community all in one night! We decided there and then Glasgow had to have its own FrontRunners club.
Next day, whilst waiting for our flight, we began drafting ideas for the club: lists of things to do, people to contact, routes to devise … and we carried on talking about it throughout the holiday. By the time we came back, we had a very good idea of what we wanted to start up, along the lines of our friends at MFR.
Separately, on a visit to Berlin the year before, Kevin had met some New York FrontRunners who spoke enthusiastically about their group and about the warm welcome they’d received from Berlin FrontRunners. Kevin contacted Boston and Manchester FrontRunners for ideas about starting up a group in Glasgow, but it all seemed like a lot for one person to take on.
So, when we got back to Glasgow, we discussed our ideas with Kevin, who bought in immediately, and started planning for the practicalities of it all. Focusing on the need to appeal to all of Glasgow, we decided that we wanted a central location and approached the Arc at Glasgow Caledonian University who kindly agreed to let us use their facilities. Venue in place, we then looked at routes and mapped out the different distances along the Canal. Things were starting to fall into place.
Our first run was a trial run on Thursday 13 August 2010 with a few friends, on a clear but chilly Thursday evening in August. Six of us ran from the Arc, along the canal and back. All went well and after setting up a Facebook page, we started to spread the word and harass friends into coming along to our first ‘official’ run.
There was a real rush of emotion on our first proper run one week later, 20 Aug 2010– a feeling that we’d been part of something that was going to be big and exciting.
At that run we welcomed others to be part of the first committee and James McGrath, Frazer Robertson and Craig Houps came on board. Documents started to get drafted, websites and marketing materials were developed, and slowly but surely our numbers grew. Simon became the first President and provided leadership and direction. As Secretary, Gordon made sure our systems were robust and that we got accreditation with Jog Scotland and International Frontrunners. Kevin was the first Run Secretary and Simon and Kevin were the first jog leaders to be trained for the club.
Five years on, reflecting on the success of GFR, we’re all very proud of what we started that summer. For Gordon and Kevin, who both returned to GFR in 2014 after having lived abroad, our initial hopes of creating something sustainable, that would bring people together and that would make a difference have been realised and surpassed. It’s so encouraging to see how many people give up their time for free to help improve the fitness of others. We’ve grown from having 2 jog leaders to over 20. There are now over 100 members. Most encouraging of all, there are far more women in the club than there used to be.
GFR, 20 August 2015
Whilst we started the club, it’s now much bigger than us and that’s fantastic. It’s ever evolving and there’s an enthusiasm for improvement that’s contagious. Long may it continue!
Kevin Boyle
Gordon Munro
Simon Young