Five Years of "We Run Belfast"
By Rory McMorrow
What is WRB? We Run Belfast is your city-based friendly running crew, where comradery, togetherness and having a laugh matters more to us than individual brilliance, intervals training or zippy running vests.
Founded in 2018 by Andy Agnew, WRB has survived several Northern Irish winters (no mean feat!), a global pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and still, not merely survived, but actively flourished.
Joining was a blessing, both socially and for my running development. Just because we wouldn’t, usually, elbow each other out of the way to finish first; that doesn’t make us uncompetitive. Not on your nelly!
This crew have tackled and triumphed in races that require the utmost resilience. Belfast Half and Full Marathons? Tick, tick. Berlin Marathon? Tick, by six! Run in the Dark? Emphatic TICK! Triathlete? Oh yes. Trail runners? You bet! Hackney half doubling up as a crew weekend away? Oh, yeah! Parkrun PBs and participation, come rain hail shine or hungover-ness? Yup, across our whole crew and our entire city! Incentivised by goodies, donuts, pints, and shoe giveaways, but to name but a few? Obviously!
We run together. In races, as the old adage goes, we compete, most of all, with ourselves. Having a designated night for an actually chilled out, easy pace, run that is designed to be chatty and relaxed, has really benefited me and my running. Since joining, the amount of utterly delighted post-race faces at attaining a personal best in our crew has rocketed. You can run as fast or as far as you want beyond our 5K, but for our 5K, we run easy, and we stick together.
WRB is a community. International diversity has seen our teased ‘tourists’ become integral parts of organising and fully immersing WRB’s motto of inclusive running.
Also, did I mention, the hard cores? The people who turn up every week, every weather, no matter what. The cheery leaders who often go as the unsung heroes, be it in mopping the floor of Oh! Donuts afterwards, offering donuts around, pacing the group, running the social media.
For leaders, a special shoutout must go to founder, Andy and also, Gregg! Without them, this initiative could have folded. It has become custom now for them both to, jointly, address and make newcomers feel welcome on Wednesday evenings. Thanks to Gregg, most nights you end up knowing at least one new person’s name!
And, to our perennial pacer, warmup maestro, Matty! Through the years, around 8pm, we have taken the Upper Arthur Street bike lane by storm as Matty puts us through irritating but injury-saving, probably, high knees and 70%s sprint drills. In seriousness, they are great exercises, both for before a run and for beginning new conversations, which without Matty, wouldn’t occur.
Ashton, in Matty’s absence one week, also led us on a tremendously laughter-inducing yoga-based warmup, so even if we’re still cold setting off, our spirits are always warmed and then even more by Andy’s eternal enthusiasm of herding us into shot for the ritual of our weekly group snap.
Andy’s, and Gregg’s occasional photography, as highlighted through this piece, is also captivating and a marvel for having documented the growth of WRB from its very first night until now. You can’t help but strike a silly pose or a cheekily demented smile when you see (and hear!) him and his camera flash as he beavers away to get into vantage positions, capturing an always good moment!
Wednesday nights, whilst the staple, are now not WRB’s only offering. Saturday morning runs from city-based bakery, Bakari, for 3K have proved popular. As has a Sunday stroll to Titanic from Big Fish and finishing at Sunflower for pints!
This week is a special one, it’s our birthday, hooray! WRB is five years old and as such, we are putting on a party to mark the milestone and say a fond farewell to Oh! Donuts as our weeknight base, with a top-secret (hush, hush) new location lined up.
So, come along! Beer, pizza, shoes! Okay, less of the latter but still plenty of merch, including shoes from HOKA, Pure Running and the Running Bubble to win, for free! Wednesday will also be perfect for runners of any and all levels, as we are doing one-kilometre loops, five times, you can opt in or out of each as your body feels fit! It is going to be a celebratory occasion, and we want YOU there, to absorb an amazing atmosphere with us all!
Not that we’re the only people doing this type of thing. No, no, across Northern Ireland, these running groups are expanding. Our very own Hannah is revamping the North Coast run crew, who run weekly from Babushka, owned by George Nelson, and who start at 7:30pm every Thursday!
Whilst another spawn of WRB, John, has recently set up the Run Round Derry group, in a similarly friendly and welcoming ethos to WRB, also a regular Thursday night event! This kicks off at 7pm from Sandinos bar.
So, wherever you are in the country, if you are a veteran, beginner or indeed, just wannabee runner right now, then brace the cold, roll up your (advisably long) sleeves and get out to a local crew near you!
Belfast runners, come to the WRB party and join our team! Even as a one-off, Wednesday 25th October at Oh! Donuts, Upper Arthur Street, is not a party you want to miss!
Heck, you might even enjoy it enough to come back for more…
Written By: Rory McMorrow
Edited by: Georgia McPoland