About Pontypool Phoenix Runners
Pontypool Phoenix Runners was set up in the Spring of 2018 by Ron Godfrey with the aim of encouraging people to take up running, get fit and make friends along the way. It has gone from strength to strength and currently has around 550 members on the private Facebook page. In non-Covid times, we run together 3 times a week- Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 1815 and meet at Pontypool Active Living Centre. Being a member is totally free.
We began life as a single group run with leaders taking members back at 2,3 and 4 miles, but as our numbers have grown and we’ve had more run leaders trained up, we generally provide a 2, 3 or 4 mile option. We never leave a runner behind and have regular regrouping and run back points as well as a front leader and tail leader to make sure everyone is safe and happy whilst we’re out. This means we can cater for all ages and abilities, though please note that any child members need to be accompanied by an adult and over the age of 12 in accordance with British Athletics guidance.
When Welsh Government rules allow, we operate a Facebook event booking system for our runs.
In the time since we’ve been running together, our members have completed many varied races including, the Virgin London Marathon, Cardiff Half Marathon, Benidorm 10k, Swansea Tough Mudder, Man Vs Horse, Newport Marathon and Half Marathon, Swansea Half Marathon, our local Mic Morris 10k and most recently the Virtual Virgin London Marathon and the Virtual Newport Half Marathon. This is just a tiny representation of the events we have attended, there is always a strong Phoenix contingent- both runners and supporters, which means a pre-race photo and a lovely post race pic with our new tops and medals as well as a meet up afterwards at a pub, restaurant, chippy or ice cream bar!
We run the Couch to 5k programme a couple of times a year, and these have so far been a resounding success with huge numbers completing Pontypool Parkrun as their graduation ceremony as well as making new friends and a new healthy hobby in the process! This does incur a small fee, but you get 2 dedicated runs with run leaders every week for the full 10 weeks of the programme, and a graduation 5k at Pontypool Parkrun at the end. It is more than worth it. Members who have completed Couch to 5k with us have gone on to complete 5km races, 10km races and half marathons too!
At Pontypool Phoenix Runners, we love to socialise and try to regularly organise social runs beginning and finishing at pubs all around Pontypool so that we can have a well deserved couple of drinks after a chatty run together! Our Christmas parties are legendary and include awards- both serious and not so serious.
During the lockdown in 2020, we organised weekly Zoom calls to check in on our members and have a chat as well as many running challenges to keep us going when we weren’t allowed to meet. We also collectively ran over a thousand miles in just five days to raise over £1,200 for the NHS.
JOIN OUR
RUNNING CLUB
To join Pontypool Phoenix Runners then simply click on the 'Become a Member' button in the top right or visit 'Pontypool Phoenix Runners Members' page on Facebook and click the add button next to the members pictures. Use the following links to check out our socials!