What it's like to be in a running club: We always go the extra mile

The 39-year-old has been a member of Lawley Running Club in Telford since it began in 2012.

Dom first took up the hobby six years ago as part of a bid to get fit and shed a few stone but it wasn't long before he discovered he was hooked.

"I was a bit overweight and so I decided I wanted to do something about it. I started running, lost some weight and my health and fitness improved. Then the running bug just caught hold of me and I've been running ever since.

"As well as the health and fitness benefits, it is also a great way to relax and clear your mind," he explains.

Now he has four marathons under his belt and is hoping to take on a gruelling ultra-marathon, which tend to be any distance between 30 and 50 miles, next year.

On April 9, which at the time was the hottest day of the year so far, he took part in the Brighton Marathon and battled temperatures reaching 20C (68F).

"It was incredibly hot. I ran it in five and half hours because I really struggled with the heat. It was a hard race," says Dom, who lives in Admaston, Telford.

Thankfully, it was a different story when, two weeks later, he joined the 40,000-plus runners pounding the streets in the London Marathon in a cooler 15C (59F).

"It was a lot better and went very well. This time I ran it in four hours and 11 minutes, which was a personal best," he tells us.

"I'm never going to win a race against Mo Farah but I still get a great sense of achievement from running," says Dom, who works as an application support manager at ReAssure in Telford.

Lawley Running Club first started in 2012 as a small social running group for the residents of Lawley but the committee decided to make it more official by applying for England Athletics affiliation.

This provides many benefits such as a insurance for members, access to funding programmes and competition opportunities.

But they faced a battle to get it off the ground due to concerns that there were already plenty of clubs in Telford and another one was not needed.

They were advised to join forces with a bigger, already-established club but in the end they managed to persuade UK Athletics that the there was sufficient demand and got the go-ahead in November 2013.

The following January they decided to run the first of what was to become many Couch to 5K programmes.

These are designed for absolute beginners to gradually build up their running ability so that they can run the desired distance without stopping.

"We didn't really know how many people would turn up, we thought maybe just a few but we were surprised to have 85 people," says Dom, who is club secretary.

Since then the club has continued to grow and now he is one of around 250 members, who meet up three times a week at their starting point of Morrisons in Lawley.

Among the group they have three coaches and 23 training run leaders which allows them to set different routes and pace settings to cater for all abilities. In addition, there may also be ad-hoc runs organised by different members for people to join in.

Members take part in a range of organised events from 'colour-runs' to ultra-marathons across the UK as well as further afield with some even travelling to cities such as Amsterdam, Dublin, New York and Rome.

"We are now one of the biggest running clubs in Shropshire. There is a great sense of community in the club.

"We pride ourselves on being very inclusive and welcoming to everyone," Dom tells us.

He believes there are many benefits to belonging to a running club such as the support members give it each other and the chance to socialise and meet new friends.

"Everyone is there to help each other and we've got so many members that there are plenty of people there to offer advice.

"It helps people to get fitter, lose weight and improve their confidence. There is a great sense of achievement for everyone when a member completes a race or achieves a personal best.

"There are such a lot friendships that have been made thanks to the club and also some relationships too - we've got a few couples in the club," adds Dom.

The club also organises two not-for-profit events every year.

The first is the Lawley 5km Fun Run - a single lap course around the streets of Lawley, which takes place on Saturday, September 9. There are 200 places available and all runners receive a goody bag and medal.

The second is the Beckbury Trail - a 5.6 mile 'challenging but rewarding' trail run through the Shropshire countryside - which will be held on Sunday, November 19.

Both events have helped the club to raise in excess of £5,000 for local charities."It's important to us that we also support the community," says Dom.

*For more information about the club see www.lawleyrunningclub.co.uk