FAQ
Common Questions
You can find the application/waiver on the Member tab of the Club’s website
Membership is for the calendar year from January 1st to December 31st.
The membership fee is $40. The fee is not prorated for membership during only part of the year.
No. A significant part of the KARC membership fee is used to pay the club membership in RRCA and to subscribe to their general liability insurance program. Benefits of RRCA membership include insurance, listing of our Club and its events on the RRCA website, access to information related to all aspects of running, training opportunities for Club officers, directors and coaches and a subscription to the quarterly publication Club Running for those households who are on the roster at the time of our annual enrollment with RRCA. Individual membership is optional but can be gotten directly through RRCA.
No. Part of the KARC membership fee is used to pay the club membership in HARRA. This gives us privileges to participate in HARRA races as one of their local clubs. For one, that means we can bring along and set-p our canopy as a shelter, meeting place and baggage drop at HARRA races. It also means that our club members can compete for points in HARRA race competitions. Individual membership to HARRA is encouraged by the Club. But, that’s the responsibility of the members.
The waiver requires that all members are in good health, medically able and properly trained to participate in any specific activity. The language of the waiver is general and without being excessively long it cannot list all of the possible situations. One should understand from the waiver that it applies to a member’s particular personal situation. The member will know whether they are in good health, medically able and properly trained for any particular activity. With specific regard to “training”, the level of training for different activities will vary. Coming for a group run does not require that a member complete a formal training program. It does mean that they should be “trained” in pedestrian activities which, we expect, is common to all people. On the other hand, if the Club were to put on a 10k road race then we would expect that the participants would have “trained” for the event by doing at least a few practice/training runs beforehand. Again, formal training would not be required. If the Club were to conduct a couch-to-5k program then one would imagine that the appropriate prior training level to have achieved is quite low. Some walking would satisfy that. The bottom line is that formal training is not required. “Training’ here means that members have prepared is some appropriate fashion for the activity they are about to undertake.
The Club discourages baby joggers, rollerblades, pets, and other things mentioned in the waiver during group runs. Because we anticipate that a number of people will participate in any Club run, we believe these restrictions enhance the safety of the runs and are in the members’ best interests.
The Club discourages the use of headphones during group runs. This is a safety issue. Most of our group runs will be on public paths or roadways which we will share with cyclists, rollerblades, cars, etc. The Club feels that hearing oncoming obstacles is in all members’ best interests.
The Club is a “full service” organization supporting area runners. One part of that service is to provide training programs and schedules. We expect that members will be able to use those schedules to plan for their upcoming races and/or fitness goals. In addition, the Club is composed of many experienced runners who are more than willing to share their knowledge and experience with regard to training, including helping understand and figure the training schedules and programs. Experienced members of our Club lead all of our group runs and can be relied upon for advice on training workouts suitable for any particular group run. This includes advice on routes, distances, pacing, and other workout elements. Club members are encouraged to use our network of members, our Facebook page, and emails to arrange groups having common distance and pace goals for all of our group runs.
The “CopShop” is a familiar name for the Sergeant J R Hatch Sports Park. It shares a parking lot with a police sub-station – hence the familiar name. The parking lot is the safest we know about and has access to excellent trails. The CopShop is on the south feeder road of I-10 just east of Barker-Cypress.