Starting Up

What do you need?

Running is a relatively inexpensive sport but good shoes are a must. Feet can absorb up to five times your body weight when running so the right shoe is essential. Always seek professional advice when choosing and remember that most shoes last about 800km before their shock absorbers wear out.

Keep clothes light and layered. Those high cut shorts aren't a mere fashion statement, they are designed to stop chafing! For night runs it is advisable to wear something reflective or invest in a flashing light since it's important to be seen by passing cars.

It's a good idea to keep a running journal. It can be as simple as a few notes of the distance and time you ran each day, or more detailed with lengthier entries about your route, the way you feel, and the stuff you thought about on the run. By keeping a record you can track your progress and avoid past pitfalls.

For more comprehensive information see some of the great sites in our links section. You can also download an information pamphlet produced by our club's membership coordinators

In addition to our programme of events we offer Training sessions for different ability levels and anyone is welcome to come along.

Join the Marathon Club

Membership is open to anyone with a desire to particpate in running from the beginner to the elite. In addition to training sessions and reductions on events the Club offers a wealth of expertise through its members, and an active social environment.

Fees

Single Membership - $35.00

Family Membership - $50.00 (2 or more people sharing the same postal address)

Pensioner and Under 18: $10.00

Race Entry Fees

Members Normal Event: $3.00

Members Social Event: $5.00

Non-Members Normal Event: $10.00

Non-Members Social Event: $15.00

Membership Application

You can download a West Australian Marathon Club Membership Application Form. The form is a Adobe Acrobat PDF for printing. Fillin the form and send it with your remittance to:

West Australian Marathon Club
Burswood Water Sports Centre
PO Box 104
Burswood
WA 6100

For Enquiries - Office Contact Details can be found at the bottom left of this site

Please make cheques payable to: West Australian Marathon Club

Training Groups

All (members or non-members) are welcome to join in at any of these training groups

Point Walter

8km time trials, 6.00pm every Monday. Pt Walter Kiosk. Dick Blom 9337 7796.

Interval Sessions

5.30 pm every Tuesday, Alderbury St Reserve, Perry Lakes. Cost $2.00 per person per session - payable to the coach (Jon Kappler) at session. Contact WAMC Office 9472 4833 with enquiries. Note that the WAMC covers the venue costs and therefore participants are expecte to be members or to join if they become regular users of these sessions.

WAMC Clubrooms (Burswood Water Sports Centre)

6km+ (anything up to 20km if you desire), 5.30pm every Wednesday. Contact Bob Braid (9227 7281) with enquiries.

Joondalup

5 to 15km with the Northern Suburbs Running Group. For details contact Chris Kowalski 9300 2540 or Alison Ratcliffe 0450 842 011

Novice Runners Sessions

WAMC Clubrooms

5.30 pm every Wednesday. Advise WAMC Office on 9472 4833 if attending for the first time

Joondalup

Northern Suburbs Running Group - 5 to 15 km.

Beginners Training Schedule

This schedule is designed to takeyou from being a non-runner to a 10k race in 17 weeks

Week	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Remarks
1	5 Walk/Jog	Rest	10 Walk/Job	Rest	Rest	10 Walk/Jog	Ret	These first 4 weeks will prepare your body for regular exercise. During this period you will also start to build stamina
2	10 Walk/Jog	Rest	10 Jog	Rest	Rest	10 Jog	Rest	-
3	15 Walk/Jog	Rest	10 Jog	Rest	Rest	10 Jog	Rest	-
4	15 Jog	Rest	10 Jog	Rest	Rest	10 Jog	Rest	-
5	20 Walk/Jog	Rest	10 Jog	Rest	Rest	15 Jog	Rest	These next 4 weeks will help build a stamina base. Steady runs. Relax. Stay focused for your goal
6	20 Jog	Rest	15 Steady	Rest	Rest	10 Steady	Rest	-
7	25 Jog	Rest	15 Steady	Rest	Rest	15 Steady	Rest	-
8	25 Steady	Rest	20 Steady	Rest	Rest	15 Steady	Rest	-
9	30 Jog	Rest	20 Steady	Rest	Rest	15 Steady	Rest	Longer non stop runs are now part of the routine. You are now a runner
10	30 Jog	Rest	25 Steady	Rest	Rest	15 Steady	Rest	-
11	40 Jog	Rest	20 Jog	Rest	Rest	15 Jog	Rest	-
12	40 Jog	Rest	25 Jog	Rest	Rest	25 Jog	Rest	-
13	45 Jog	Rest	25 Steady	Rest	Rest	25 Steady	Rest	Getting faster now. The last week is an easy week in preparation for your big race
14	50 Jog	Rest	25 Steady	Rest	Rest	30 Jog	Rest	-
15	60 Jog	Rest	30 Jog	Rest	Rest	30 Jog	Rest	-
16	60 Jog	Rest	10 Steady	Rest	Rest	10 Steady	Rest	-
17	-	-	RACE WEEK	-	-	-	-	-

This schedule should get you into the habit of running. By following this you will be able to get fitter quicker without taking too much time during the week. Numbers shown represent MINUTES. Never be afraid to stop, better to arrive late than not at all. GOOD LUCK!!

Joggers Marathon Schedule

This programme appeared in the WAMC December 2000 Newsletter. It is again based on times rather than k's. It was a programme devised in the 1960's, by Joe Henderson, a US runner writer and has created a lot of interest over the years

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Daily Avg
1	25 mins	25 mins	45 mins	25 mins	45 mins	25 mins	10k Time Trial	34 mins
2	25 mins	25 mins	50 mins	25 mins	50 mins	25 mins	70 mins	38 mins
3	30 mins	30 mins	50 mins	30 mins	50 mins	30 mins	80 mins	43 mins
4	30 mins	30 mins	60 mins	30 mins	60 mins	30 mins	90 mins	47 mins
5	35 mins	35 mins	70 mins	35 mins	70 mins	35 mins	16k Time Trial	50 mins
6	35 mins	35 mins	70 mins	35 mins	70 mins	35 mins	110 mins	57 mins
7	40 mins	40 mins	80 mins	40 mins	80 mins	40 mins	120 mins	63 mins
8	45 mins	45 mins	80 mins	45 mins	80 mins	45 mins	120 mins or more	69 mins
9	45 mins	45 mins	90 mins	45 mins	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon Time Trial	64 mins
10	45 mins	45 mins	90 mins	45 mins	90 mins	45 mins	120 mins	69 mins
11	30 mins	30 mins	60 mins	30 mins	60 mins	30 mins	90 mins	47 mins
12	30 mins	30 mins	30 mins	30 mins	30 mins	30 mins	Marathon	-

Notes: It is recommended that 5% of each days run be run at a faster than normal pace. This amounts to 3 mins per hour. A tolerable increase in distance is about 10% per week. Maintain the pattern of long(one day), medium(two days) and short(four days), with long runs being 1.5 times the average and short runs half the average time or distance When doing accelerations during each days run, do them mildy fast to keep your legs from growing tight and rutted in a constant pace. Changes of pace should be energising not tiring. When doing time trials, concentrate more on holding a faster than normal pace rather than your final time and place.

Read About Our Club

The West Australian Marathon Club was founded on 13th July 1970. The Club's first race was the Darlington Half Marathon, held on 2nd August and conducted, as many of the first events were, as a handicap event. Since then the Club has grown to become the major running organisation in W.A.

The West Australian Marathon Club is the largest running Club in Western Australia. It has around 1,000 members. Very few of these members actually run Marathons, although many of them have at one time or other.

The members of the Club vary in age from under 10 to over 70 and and most live in the Perth Metropolitan area but membership is spread throughout the State, the Country and even the World!

The Club is run by a Committee of 10 members who meet monthly. However the strength of the Club lies in its membership, it is a long standing condition of membership that everyone helps out in at least two events each year. The Race Directors are also Club members and no-one is paid for their efforts except the Admin Officer, Nancy Reed. We also receive considerable help from our sponsors for which we are very grateful.

The West Australian Marathon Club is something of a misnomer. The Club conducts running events at all distances from 3 right up to 100 kilometres. In fact many people in Western Australia do not realise that the Club conducts events over such a variety of distances.

Having been born during the Marathon boom of the early 70's the Club has survived because it has adapted to meet the desire of its membership. The Club holds races on the track, the road and cross country. Although the Club programme may look very similar each year, it has evolved over time. There are now many more shorter events (sometimes 'supporting' a main race), there are relays and there are twilight runs. Many of these races have been member's initiatives. Some work, some don't, but the Club is always willing to adapt and adopt to survive.

Whilst the Club is basically a sporting body it does also raise funds at several charity runs during the year. There is also a 'social' aspect to the Club too. Training Groups meet up for other social activities, some sporting and some less so! There are also social runs on the Club programme too, the Matilda Bay Breakfast Run, the Pancake Run and the New Years Eve Run all spring readily to mind.

During the last few years we have seen the demise of other Marathon Clubs within Australia. So why is there a Marathon Club in WA? A State with a small population and very concentrated on Perth? To understand this you will need to know that the Club's origins were from a group of disaffected runners, who were, to say the least, disappointed with the official bodies who organised running in the State. This group of 13 set out with the aim to 'Foster long distance running and assist in furtherance of amateur sport'

There can be little doubt, all these years later, they have achieved exactly what they set out to do. That is not to say that the club has not had times of trials and tribulations, but it has survived and is a very strong sporting body.

West Australians are very active sporting people and that, to some degree, explains why this club has survived. Of course, the weather here in WA is very conducive to running, except for some of those very hot summer days!

Almost without fail there is a discussion at the AGM as to whether the Club should change name. In some respects it seems inevitable that the change will come but, then again, it may never happen.

Most events on the WAMC calendar are scheduled for early on Sunday morning. There are some races held at other times but they are few and far between. Club members seem to prefer to get their running over early in the day and then they can concentrate on family or other sporting events during the rest of the day.

Of course during our summer it is essential that events are held early in the morning and events such as Marathons are generally scheduled for the cooler months.

Racing is only part of what the Club does! There are also Training Groups. These usually meet on mid-week evenings, after work. However the Northern Suburbs Training Group has a strong tradition of meeting at 7 a.m. on Saturday.

True to its roots the WAMC is fiercely independent. It was formed by runners to conduct events which are well organised but with the minimum of fuss. This still holds true today. WAMC events are always very well organised. That's not to say that things don't go wrong, but they don't usually go wrong two years in a row!

The Race Directors are all Club members and are volunteers (some more willing than others). This means that they all know what pleases and displeases their fellow runners.

Club members turning up for a race wear a Club issued number, pay their race entry fee and ensure that their number is recorded as an entrant. It's as simple as that. For a Non-Member they merely have to fill out a form and collect a number. Non members pay a little bit extra. The cost of becoming a member can be saved in nine races!

All the Marshals and race Officials are Club Members so the events are conducted at low cost and with the maximum of good cheer! As finishers cross the line their time and place is recorded on a Chronomix and their number recorded and position noted.

Once the Chronomix printed tape has been pinned up on the mobile notice board, finishers can check out their times. Medals, generally to the first three male and female runners, are awarded on the day.

The results are usually entered in the Club computer by the end of the following day and are published quarterly in the Club Newsletter and here online in the results section.