Dartford & White Oak Triathlon Club are one of the oldest triathlon clubs in the country and they continue to come up with innovative ways to keep their members engaged all year round.
Formed in 1988, the Kent-based club stage open water swimming throughout the summer at their ‘Bridge’ facility near Dartford, which then becomes the base for bike-run sessions when the nights draw in.
Taking over local parkruns also helps keep motivation high, while regular cross-country runs have been added to the calendar, allowing members to take in different locations around the area on the last Sunday of every month.
“We have members from across a 10-15 mile radius, which gives us quite a wide area to do things,” explained chairman Craig Ginn.
“A lot of our members are part of running clubs so they do the Kent Fitness League, a cross-country league with loads of clubs.
“But it’s quite tight-knit and you can’t get into it very easily, so we decided to do our own cross-country ourselves once a month. We had 20 people turn up in the pouring rain and gusty wind for the first one, which was a good turnout, and we’re actively trying to get people to do stuff, both socially as well as exercise-related.
“We just try and keep people motivated through the winter months to keep training. If you fade away from keeping people active, they tend to disappear and do their own thing – they may not then come back to the club.”
Swimming does not go on the back burner at Dartford & White Oak either, with three weekly sessions through the winter, while several club members are working towards completing IRONMAN events and other challenges when the new season rolls around.
Ginn has been pleased to see the club develop during his seven years involved and hopes to see the recent spike in returning members continue.
“We have around 85 members and of those, there are a core 20 or 25 you see all the time and others who come in and out,” he said.
“On the last Saturday of September, we have a Lilo race at the lake over about 200 metres and people really enjoy it – it’s one of the most popular things we do. A lot of people come out the woodwork who haven’t been in the lake all year to do that race, it’s great fun.
“We have started to see former members returning recently - people from before my time are coming back. Working from home gave people more time to do training and maybe made people think they wanted to get back into triathlon.
“Ultimately, it’s not just encouraging people over the winter months, it’s encouraging people all year round. We have an active WhatsApp group to keep people motivated and feel part of the club and it is a really friendly, welcoming environment.
“We try and keep the door open for as many people as possible. If you know you have 10 or 15 people saying they’re going for a run or a cycle, you’ll always have people to catch up with and there’s always that bit of competition as well. We just encourage people as much as we possibly can.”
