Fit4Life Interview Series: Celbridge Athletic Club

Why did you start Fit4Life in Celbridge AC?

Believe it or not we began our Fit4Life programme in response to suggestions from Athletics Ireland. Our chairperson at the time, Kieran Stout, was a great believer in master’s athletics and the value of keeping healthy with age. Once the idea was promoted into the Club, and into the general community of Celbridge itself, there was an immediate and positive response. One of our current members, Seamus Ó Mídheach, has been a continual member from the original group of 20 that was set up back in 2010.

When & how did you start?

Our initial aim was to develop a Fit4Life programme that was separate from our coached programmes across the rest of the Club. As such our Fit4Life membership (currently 122) is unique to itself and does not count other senior or masters’ athletes. In addition, we have always emphasized that all of our Fit4Life members are tasked with the same programme of activity all of the time. We do not coach to times – only to participation and achievement. Any Pace Any Distance.

Do you have any special sessions or are you planning for any special sessions that enriches the experience of the members? 

Each of our coaches has First Aid and Defib training. We have a Defib available at the Club and are aware of where others are available across Celbridge village.

We have had Pilates courses, Nutritional talks, Motivational talks, how to ‘Work out Safely’ sessions and designed a much-coveted Celbridge AC Fit4Life training shirt. In addition, we organise semi regular 3k runs in place of our regular Wednesday session. The banter is mighty.

A major programme that we provide is a training plan specifically designed for our Fit4Life members. It works 20 weeks back from the Dublin City Marathon and takes in each of the Dublin Race Series dates and distances. So, if a member wants to target any or, indeed, all of the distances they can follow the programme the details of which are posted on a Monday Morning. We then also tailor our Wednesday tracks sessions to the plan. Once again this is designed to bring our members safely across the finish line. This is Achievement and Not about speed!

On top of each of these we try to engage with the wider Celbridge community. With this in mind we have regular contact with the Celbridge Condors- Celbridge Special Olympic club.

How do you organize Fit4Life sessions?

We are super organized. This is vital. We have four AAI qualified coaches. Two male and two female. They communicate on a weekly basis (currently via Club Zap) with each other and with the group. Weekly training plans are agreed on and then communicated to the membership. Every week we have a track session. It goes as follows:

• 7pm meet
• warm up jog on our grass track
• Group static stretches. Coach in the centre of a Very Big Circle (could be up to 60 athletes!) guides stretches for the group from neck to ankle and most things in between.
• Main activity. Varies each week but always has the same intent: a Cardio workout. These may be Time Pyramids (2,3,5, 3,2 minutes; 90 sec recovery) Distance, Fartlegs and so on. The idea is to increase heart rate and control breathing. Everyone to their own pace and ability.
• Cool down lap
• Group static stretches. Coach in the centre of a Very Big Circle guides stretches from neck to ankle and most things in between.

In addition, we have a Monday 7pm meet up for a road ‘Any Pace Any Distance’. Groups find their own level. There are also Saturday morning sessions that are similar while many of our members meet up for a ‘parkrun’ in Castletown, Griffeen, Kilcock and on to most corners of Ireland. It should be pointed out that we do not allow anyone to post finishing times on our official social media. We found that this had the tendency to alienate in favour of fast times. We have a member who has completed in excess of 250 ‘park runs’ with others just starting the journey. We have sub four-hour marathoners and others who have walked the distance in over 8 hours. All are treated the same: they have achieved their goal. Times are for a different section of the Club.

What are the benefits of running Fit4Life in your club/community?

Health and Happiness are our drivers. If we take the latter first. We expect a lot of chatter and socialising at every session! Indeed, we organise ourselves so that we support these. Health is a vital driver to the success of the group which to be frank and fair comes in all sizes, abilities, and ambition. Everyone is an individual and no-one is left behind. We achieve this by having a genuinely happy group of adults who know that the health benefits attached to our Fit4Life group might take time and effort. They also know that by getting to know their compatriots they are not alone and that they will achieve their personal targets. These might be as diverse as weight loss, recovering from surgery (hip and knee replacements included!), childbearing, ageing (that’s me!), meeting new friends, getting out of the house, impressing the neighbours …. and so, on and on. 

How do you encourage the members who are less interested in running?

f a member is more comfortable walking, we will encourage it! We will also encourage a good healthy athletic walking style – it’s surprising how soon this develops into an easy jog! We blend in with the Club’s annual Couch to 5K program. Indeed, we will marshal that group’s first 5k. This begins their fun. When a new member joins and feels they may be ‘too slow’ or ‘not good enough’ we will have a coach walk and jog with them. I should have mentioned that each of our coaches runs with the group! This allows us to always have someone at front, middle and back who become familiar to the members/part of the group and not just a coach at the side calling out commands.

Have you any standout memories for Fit4Life in Celbridge AC?

At the Annual Club Awards, we present a Fit4Life ’Motivational Award’ and a Fit4Life ‘Inspirational Award’ to two worthy members. We emphasize that we could give everyone one, but the point is made that Fit4Life at Celbridge is all about Motivation and Inspiration. The smiles on the faces of every one of our past award achievers keeps us going again into a new year.

What advice would you give any club or individuals interested in participating or starting Fit4Life?

-For individual all we can say is Drop down, have a trial session. This is when the group and coaches are on trial. Not you!

-For Clubs: get going. There is nothing better for the health of a Club than a big bunch of adults have great time. It feeds back down to all groups!  On a purely practical side you will have access to a great bunch of helpers.