Introduction
Each week we have training sessions for both juniors and seniors. These are detailed separately below.
Juniors
These sessions are around one hour long and carried out under the supervision of Club Coaches. We welcome any aspiring athlete aged 8 upwards. Juniors are divided into two groups:
Group 1 (8 to 12 year olds).
This group trains on Thursday evenings at King Alfred’s College West Site. In the summer these are on the playing field, in the winter in the sports hall. The sessions start at 6.30pm in the summer. In the winter the times may change, usually to a 7pm start, to fit in with the hall bookings. We welcome new athletes into this group (subject to available spaces at the time). Please contact either the membership secretary or web site contact for details. New athletes are welcomed on the first Thursday of the month. There is a WhatsApp Group for parents/guardians of those in this group to notify of any changes etc.
Group 2 (aged 13 and above).
This group also trains on a Thursday evening at 6.30pm. In the winter this is at Wantage Memorial Park, in the summer on the large L-shaped field behind Wantage Leisure Centre. There is also an optional training session on Tuesday evenings. In the summer this Tuesday session may be at Tilsley Park Athletics Track in Abingdon. (Note an entry fee is payable for the use of this facility).
Seniors
Senior training is usually led by one of the club coaches or run leaders. Participants should sign up for sessions via “Meetup” which is available as a web page or app. (It is necessary to join the White Horse Harriers group in Meetup.) Use of Meetup was started in response to group size limitations during the Covid pandemic and has been continued. Details of sessions, in particular changes to the planned sessions, are also given on the White Horse Harriers private Facebook Group. Training sessions take place on the following days each week. You can either dip in and out to fit around your busy life, or you can work with the coaches and build your training program around them. e.g. Tuesday – ABC, Thursday – Intervals, Sunday – Long run.
Tuesdays 7pm.
There is a regular Tuesday evening session. For the winter period (September until around Easter) this will take place at Letcombe Regis Village Hall (LRVH). Details of this coached structured training is here for Sep ‘21 to Mar ’22. These sessions include ABC (Agility, Balance, Coordination) work. At times the coaches may lead a training session at at Tilsley Park Athletics Track in Abingdon. (Note an entry fee is payable for the use of this facility).
Thursday Evenings.
There are currently two training sessions taking place on Thursday evening.
- 7pm. A coached session which may be interval training, hill repetitions or a steady (social) run. The start point of this session varies according to the session type. During the autumn/winter of 2022/23 the usual meeting point is King Alfred’s Academy West Site. However, members should check Meetup/Facebook.
- 6.30pm. from Wantage Leisure Centre. This is our “consolidation run”, typically 6-8km, led by one of our friendly Run Leaders. This run is for you if you have made it to 5k and want to keep on going, or just want to run in friendly company. As for the other sessions for adults please sign up via “Meetup” as described above.
Saturday Mornings
There are occasional Saturday morning sessions for seniors. These are also detailed in the Sep ’21 to March ’22 schedule. Details will be found on Facebook and Meetup.
Sunday 8.55am trail run.
On non-race day Sundays there is a guided trail run through the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside. (sometimes followed by tea & cake). Typically we’ll run on The Ridgeway, but occasionally seek out new routes around Oxford, Hungerford or Savernake Forest.
It’s a long social run, at talking pace. There are usually three different groups with different lengths of run. We usually meet at Court Hill Centre, Wantage OX12 9NE. Please follow our Facebook page for updates and sign up using “Meetup”.
Spring 2024 Training Plan
Page Updated March 2024