Seven Locks Running Club has been incredible. The coach is an incredibly talented mom who has coached kids in multiple sports and age ranges for her entire career. She has the unique ability and drive to take kids and give them a healthy outlet and instill a love of running. The club has grown, but so has the coaching staff and as a parent with now two runners of different ages and ability on the team I am completely impressed. Both of my children are met where they are at, and the amount of optional practice times are another huge plus- rarely do you find a team that offers as many chances to tailor to your personal schedule.

Have experience with 7LRC coach doing goal setting with kids in the beginning of the season and then reviewing near the end. It’s been fun to watch how the kids set their goals (not all may start out realistically, or so I thought even with my own) and then seeing their reactions when they actually meet the goal. Pretty cool approach for life, not just running.

I was recently asked about running clubs in the area. I know of a few from personal experience and second hand. In general, most clubs participate in the same meets - which are typically closer to Frederick (MD), at least for XC (track adds PG Sportsplex). Olney - more XC than track, smaller club, coaches seem engaged, mix of runner ability but over time, improvements noted.

BTC - established club, wide range of runners (some field), relaxed coaching, emphasis seems on doing a good job (less results oriented) - includes local HS runners as coaches; offers folks option of shorter distance vs. longer (as a running focus).

7LRC - newer/growing program, whether by chance or skill - includes some very talented runners (though understand that most were new to the sport) but also noticed marked improvement in others over time (again, all these teams run at similar meets so you see some of the same kids repeatedly); really wants to develop runners (especially mid-distance) rather than just condition athletes in other sports; pushes kids to be their best (not just doing a good job); has seasonal focus on national meets (but not sole focus); seems to develop kids well; also has HS runners as assistants.

I think all programs suffer from occasional injuries - comes with the territory, especially for those unable to make all practices. I think all programs offer thrice weekly practices (maybe more options in summer) and none are mandatory - though it is clear (with 7LRC) that one's progress will not be as swift if attending minimal practices. Coach is serious and also funny (maybe that genesis of comment above). If you run in these leagues, you will get to know the voices of the many coaches as they all have their distinctive style/tone. Not sure any of the 3 are great with field athletes (although some exist on the teams), though none of the coaches advertise this as a strength/focus either.

In general, runners will get out what they put into the sport. Some runners have more innate or baseline talent but there is room for all on the clubs.

BTC and 7LRC are a little more south in Montgomery County and offer consistent XC and track (indoor also) whereas Olney may only offer XC (despite seeing a few runners at the track in the spring).

There are other clubs elsewhere in MD and DC so have a look depending on where you are coming from.

Last note - the younger kids do have fewer practices per week than older kids (at 7LRC and maybe BTC also). The more consistent attendance at practice, the more individualized attention the kids receive (hard to know what to work on if the kiddoe rarely attends practice) - probably similar across clubs.

The risk of burnout for track athletes (esp distance runners) is significant. My general assumption (probably not 100% true) is that most big youth stars are doing an unwise amount of training. You can definitely out train most people in your talent orbit. Whether you *should* at 8/9/10 is another story.

Running talent is mostly genetic and you need not start honing it diligently at 8 years old. But to be fair, the longer you wait to start a sport, probably the less likely you are to ever start it.

So, take it reasonable but it can be a great sport.

Are there any clubs closer into DC? Or in DC? Churchill and Whitman are a bit far for us.

SLRC practices mostly at Churchill. If the track isn’t available then it’s at Hoover or Avenel park.

Where does SLRC actually practice? BTC is at Whitman, right? any other more recent views of these clubs? Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:The seven locks running club program started out great but has definitely changed. There are now 110 kids on the spring track team. There is no individualized coaching at this size; just a big training group. Over half of the team doesn’t participate in the meets. The head coach has erratic and inappropriate behavior at times.

I'm an outsider but that's definitely what it appears like at the meets. I have no idea if it's better or worse, but it's certainly different.

The seven locks running club program started out great but has definitely changed. There are now 110 kids on the spring track team. There is no individualized coaching at this size; just a big training group. Over half of the team doesn’t participate in the meets. The head coach has erratic and inappropriate behavior at times.

My kids did BTC spring track for several seasons and really enjoyed it. It is low key and fun. Coach A is very kind and encouraging is well organized and the practices run very smoothly. The kids are split into two age groups and the coaches are mostly Coach A (her husband wasn't there when we were) and several high school athletes. The older kids focused on form and technique and the younger kids did do some track running, but also a lot of tag-type games. My middle schooler is a competitive runner and found the coaching from Coach A to be more useful than the coaches from their school team.

They are welcome to do field events in the meets, but there isn't much formal practice for these.

The meets, which I think are the same that Seven Locks go to since we always saw them there, are brutal - many hours long and seemed to be always freezing rain or unusual extreme heat. They are optional for BTC and maybe about half of the team went. Some of the kids at the practices were just there to improve their speed for other sports.

Our kids have had a great experience with Seven Locks. I've found the best thing to be coach Laura's genuine enthusiasm and investment in the kids, regardless of their ability and level of commitment. I've seen her give personalized pep talks to the fastest and the slowest kids before races. Encouragement and feedback is so important for young runners, and she is simultaneously disciplined and nurturing. When one of my kids had a PR and won a track race, I commented on how he really kicked it in the last lap to pass someone, he said, "I had to--coach Laura yelled at me that I had to catch him." Another one of my kids will frequently come home from practice excited about a small compliment or encouragement coach Laura has given.
One of my kids who runs in high school commented the other day that the middle school coach should be sending kids to Seven Locks because it will help them be prepared for high school running.

We joined Laura Heilman’s program when she first started 7LRC. My son was encouraged by his CYO coach to run to build stamina for soccer. Little did he know, he was losing a soccer player and building a XC and track lover. The coach matters. I don’t care if you’re playing chess, boxing, or suffering through organic chemistry.

Laura is has a unique touch. She knows that grit comes with the ordinary successes that are built over time. If you’re looking for “XC” or “track success”, it’s hard to argue with the accolades 7LRC has earned, but there are other “successful” clubs out there.

This is a club centered on character. And, Laura meets every child where they’re at. My son? Well, he went from a middling runner to a gritty freshman that has competed and placed on the school XC team that has swept JV (and has been selected to run on the Varsity squad) at every meet entered.

His school doesn’t have winter indoor track, so we’re making the trek to follow Laura for this new offering.

The coach matters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has been with Bethesda Track Club for 3 years now but I am also very familiar with Seven Locks Running Club since they participate in many of the same track and xc meets.
The Seven Locks program is way more serious and intense and your child is more likely to run faster (at least in the short term) if that is your goal. There are different philosophies on training at those young ages and you should pick the one that is better suited to your goals.

I was forced to start early in the sport by my father. Not a pleasant experience. I would go with the most relaxed program for middle school. There is plenty of time to develop and get better. I ran a 9:20 2 mile in 8th grade, but not a great thing, really. Too much pressure early. Did run a 4:06 mile as a senior, and ran D1 on scholarship in college. Never enjoyed it. College track was not an adjustment, but cross country was as I had so much speedwork poured into me at a young age the adjustment to 80 miles a week was brutal. I would have benefitted from a far more relaxed approach - running is not swimming.

Damn, I could have written the exact same thing. I started track at age 7 back in the early 80's. Practices were brutal, every run was intense. Yeah, it produced good results but I hated it. When I got to my teens, I didn't want anything to do with running. Started back up in my 20's and learned just have badly I was coached. Thankfully I learned how to train properly and have kept it up for decades. With this in mind, I don't want to ruin my child for running. We've been doing BTC for 3 years and he loves it. Workouts are not crazy hard and easy running is mixed in. He wants to go to every practice and meet, so I can't ask for anything else. And you're absolutely right, it's not swimming.

I had a different experience with starting late (9th grade). The bottom line is that the most important thing for this age is to find a good coach. I was on multiple state championship teams for xc. I received multiple scholarships, including a partial D1. My coach has also won national coach of the year awards. He made running fun. It was never a grind. He even had easy days where we'd run to 7-11 (3.5 miles round trip) and get slurpees. Rival schools were slogging away with morning practices, etc. He focused a lot on attitude. Yes, there were hard and there, but he tried to make all of those fun too. Sometimes he would stagger runners by ability for a mile repeat, so that anyone on the team technically had the chance of coming in first. He turned casual runners into star athletes. He kicked off great runners with bad attitudes. He is still coaching and just won another state championship this year and has a runner who is headed to the Nike finals next month. It doesn't have to be a grind program to be a good program. Making it fun should be the most important thing right now.

This is a great coach.

OP, another option you could consider is CYO track if you're Catholic. Also ... does your child's high school team definitely cut? A lot of high school track and XC programs are no-cut. (Now, that doesn't mean you get to go to every race.) I second keeping things easy at this age.

Another family with great experience at Seven Locks - SLRC. We were really not sure what to expect going in, and signed up to try out running, but the experience has been phenomenal. Our son has thrived under Laura's coaching and was very well prepared going into his high school track team.

Seven Locks is absolutely the best program to prep kids for HS running programs. The program not only builds stamina and conditioning — it also is focused on building confidence for HS athletics.

Really no choice between the two. You gotta go Seven Locks.