Clubs on Strava are used for a variety of reasons, including tracking training, posting announcements and staying connected with friends and teammates. We’ve seen some creative uses by businesses, brands, teams and individual groups.
Anyone can create a Club, which includes a weekly leaderboard, filtered activity, discussion forum and group events – complete with routes and details. These can be recurring weekly rides or runs with the option to RSVP “I’m in” so you can know who to expect. These events can also easily be shared on Strava with friends, as well as via Facebook, Twitter, and email.
Cycling and running shops like Spark have been using clubs to stay connected with customers, share info on group rides or runs, and provide store updates, discounts and customer support.
Brands like Campagnolo have used their Clubs to promote pro athletes, provide product giveaways based on weekly leaderboard stats, and share events dedicated to brand enthusiasts.
Lululemon is using its global run community to “celebrate all that is great about running; freedom, friends and challenge.” This includes providing training tips and tools for its upcoming annual SeaWheeze race.
Pro Cycling teams like Team Belkin and elite run teams like Oiselle Flock post all their activities in one place so you can see what everyone is up to, even when they are not racing in the same location.
The Central Park Track Club uses its Club primarily for socializing and to connect their track runners with their road runners. Former Strava Ambassador and Club President Rob Gill says, “It’s our social interaction around our workouts; everybody uses it to compare times. Our workouts are very structured – when our coach says go do repeats of 800’s or a six mile tempo at half marathon pace you can compare times to fellow club members.” Rob told us that seeing where others in the club run encourages him to get out and run new routes.
In a city like New York you feel like you know all the places to run, but you find and discover new places to go through the club. I found a new fifteen mile trail run over the George Washington Bridge and a route in Red Hook that’s worth going out of my way for.
At Strava, we use Clubs internally for sharing weekly rides, runs, and races, as well as scheduling group events and discussing routes. We also enjoy the friendly competition of knowing who logged the most time, elevation and mileage for the week.
Clubs can also be used solely for staying connected with and keeping track of a small group of friends, – whether they’re the ones you run with weekly or the ones with whom you can’t because they live far away.
We appreciate your input as we continue to build out features for Clubs. Let us know how you use your Club in the comments below.