Get Involved

We have a number of packs (running groups) to cater for different speeds, walkers, genders and ages. The duration of the runs and walks is roughly an hour. We have a clear "no one left behind policy". 

Winter – We meet at our club house just before 2pm on non-race weekends. Keep your eye on the calendar.

Summer – We have a club run every weekend, alternating between the clubrooms and members’ places. Keep your eye on the calendar.

Clothes – We run in all weather and many of our runs are in the hills around Johnsonville. Be prepared and bring a thermal top, windbreaker, hat and gloves if the weather is bad.

Social – Afterwards we gather at the club house to catch up over a drink and snacks. This is a great space to get to know the people behind the club. 

Develop your technique. Sharpen your speed. Build your aerobic engine. Have fun doing it. 

The coach takes us through drills to develop our running technique before moving on to an interval session. The intervals are time-based (as opposed to distance-based) in order to accommodate everyone. There standard guide is push as hard as you feel comfortable with. 

Week on week the coach cycles through different interval sessions varying between threshhold, aerobic/VO2Max and anaerobic/speed to help us adapt. We do like to mix it up. 

The Junior Middle Distance programme provides specialised coaching for talented young athletes (year 5 through to college age) seeking to develop their competitive middle distance running. This stream is designed for committed athletes ready to progress their performance. 

Primary/Intermediate Squad – for kids who have been running competitions for several years.

College Squad – college aged (and older) who are competitive and looking at taking their running to the next level.

In summer, children from age 5 to 14 can participate in our children’s athletics programme to help develop their running, jumping and throwing skills.

3–6 year olds – we run the Get Set Go programme for 3 to 6 year olds. Get Set Go is an Athletics NZ programme aimed at Under 7s.  Last summer we had over 50 kids taking part each week.  There are a whole variety of games for the kids and their parents to have fun with based around running, jumping and throwing activities. A range of activities are set up each club night that the children rotate around.  Parents can either move around the activities with their kids, or volunteer to help run a station.  The kids are on the go the whole time – no long lines!  Get Set Go is a fantastic introduction to athletics for this age group. The Get Set Go programme is held on the bottom field at Grenada North Park so you can park on Caribbean Drive or off Nassau Street.

7–12 year olds – children rotate around coaching/activity stations.  Each club night finishes with a running race whether it's 60m, 80m, 100m or once around the track.

Sausage Sizzle – we  finish our club nights with a BBQ and some treats – a good way to feed the kids on the way home. 

Find out more at the Juniors website.

Core strength is an important aspect of injury prevention in running. 

The classes are tailored for the needs of runners and walkers, providing balanced strength of your running muscles. Whatever your own personal starting point, these classes will help you run faster, more efficiently and will protect against injuries.

Booking needed - reach out to Mark.

Bring a towel or mat

It's so much more fun to get your long mileage in with company. Join us on Sunday mornings. These usually start at 8:00am and are typically between 90min and 120min duration. This is a "roving" pack – meaning that our starting point and course vary from week-to-week – making it a great way to learn routes around Wellington. 

There are no requirements for speed, racing experience, or what distance means "long" for you, other than the agreed route that most of the group will run on a given Sunday. 

We are trying to grow the group to support diverse pace goals. For now it's best to engage with the Facebook Messenger group so that we can work with you. The more people to engage the greater the chance there will be a group that suits your pace needs

We do love a bit of friendly competition. Racing is a great way to challenge yourself, and serves as a motivator to do that training. 

As an Athletics Wellington and Athletics New Zealand affiliated club we are actively involved in the local (interclub) and national race scene. There is a race roughly every second weekend; some are just for fun and some are all about championships, with everything in between.

Winter (Harrier) Season – focuses on cross country, mountain running and road. Most events have races for all age grades. Athletics Wellington runs a Winter Series points system to keep all the races interesting. 

Summer (Track) Season – focuses on Track & Field. Generally there are discrete events for juniors, and for seniors & masters. 

These are explored in more detail on our annual events page. 

In addition there are many local, national (and indeed international) events that are open to the general public. Olympic Harriers members, as the enthusiasts that we are, take part in many of these.  

Olympic Harriers prioritises two formal club trips each year - the North Island Cross Country Champs in Taupō and the New Zealand Road Relay Champs (location varies). Both trips are partially subsidised by the club. We love to arrive at both events "in force". 

The North Island Cross Country Champs are held in Thermal Spa Park, usually the first weekend in July. 

The New Zealand Road Relay Champs the first weekend in October is the climax of the winter season, with clubs going head to head with their best relay teams. 

Find out more on the club events page. 

Club members coordinate together to organise club trips around races – nationally and abroad.