'The New Balance Run Club

If training by yourself is starting to feel a little uninteresting and the thought of joining a fast, serious running club fills you with more than a little trepidation, then it’s time to check out the New Balance Run Club!

This casual running group is filled with people from all walks of life and hold their training sessions every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7.00PM.

Wednesdays and Thursdays are free and easy running sessions starting from the Velocity NB store in Novena and Suntec City NB store in the city respectively, but if you’re looking to pick up new training techniques and drill skills, then the Tuesday sessions at the Suntec City NB store is where you’ll want to be at.

The Tuesday sessions are led by NBRC coach Loh Guo Pei, who represented Singapore in 400m and 4X400m races before retiring from the national team in 2015.

Guo Pei has more than nine years of athletics coaching experience, and is also an official New Balance ambassador. Down to earth and always ready for a friendly chat, he reveals that he loves sports coaching for its myriad positive experiences at every session. On Tuesday evenings, he starts his NBRC sessions with dynamic warm ups, then transitioning to simple drills and exercises that are designed to help make you a more versatile fitness enthusiast.

“I believe in incorporating a variety of training routines from HIIT workouts to interval training, as this makes you a better all-rounder,” explains Guo Pei. “I enjoy introducing new runners to the running community through the club, so I make it a point to make every session fun and enjoyable, rather than arduous and difficult.”

While the run sessions vary from week to week, drills and exercises like Fartlek training, tempo runs and interval training are what you can expect to find the club going through every Tuesday evening. Fartlek, or ‘speed play’ uses speed intervals in sets to improve your speed and stamina, while tempo running is sometimes known as a lactate-threshold run and is great at training your body’s ability to clear lactate for better speed over long distances.

If you have no idea how these drills and training programs are beneficial, we guarantee that you will come away enlightened after just one evening with the NBRC.

Guo Pei leads the training sessions with assistance from his regular team of NB pacers. With the groups separated by ability for the running session, it is always easy to find a pace group that moves at a speed you are comfortable with.

The NBRC is a community with an aim to support new runners, and also give other running enthusiasts a social experience that they can call their own. For the convenience of students and working adults, you’ll note that sessions start in the evening, and typically finish up by 9.00PM. You will need to register your interest online at least a day before the training session at www.newbalance.com.sg/en/run-club . This allows the NBRC to ensure that the sessions are not overcrowded. See you at the next one!