26 Reasons You Should Join a Triclub!

From evenings out to Ironman obsessives, shouty swim coaches to underhand tactics, our weekend warrior, Martyn Brunt, presents his A-Z of what a world-beating tri club should offer its members...

- By Martyn Brunt

Thinking of joining a tri club? Do it. I could just end this article there, but I sense this might leave you feeling a tad short changed, so let me impart some wisdom to you all on what it is that makes tri clubs the place for you, and what you should look for in a good one.

Triathlon clubs are essentially groups of people in identical garish leotards whose obsession with tri has moved past the stage where they started keeping their training plans on an excel spreadsheet, and have decided to join like-minded people to do races together and try to drop each other on Sunday morning training rides.

When you see club athletes at races, they can appear intimidating with their in-jokes and their carefully selected chest-bragging T-shirts.

But people in tri clubs are, almost always without exception, welcoming and friendly, and not at all the kind to laugh at your non-elasticated laces and race number pinned straight to your top. And when you speak to them it's more than likely they'll immediately try to recruit you to join, not least because with a fresh arrival they'll have someone new to brag to about their PBs.

So with so many great things to choose from, what should you look for in a good tri club? Well, here's my handy A-Z...

AWARDS NIGHT

All good clubs should have an awards night with prizes for the fastest, longest, most dedicated and, ideally, the most hapless (I speak as two-time winner of Coventry Triathletes' 'Who got Hammered' award). Awards nights are great opportunities to gloat if you've won a trophy and nurse grievances if you haven't, and really help to make up for the inevitable hell of the AGM.