Our volunteer coaches organise courses aimed at beginners, novice runners and improvers. We run these courses 3 or 4 times a year depending on demand and availability.
Beginners
Our Couch to 5K programme is for adults who are at the very beginning of their fitness journey and would like a gentler, confidence‑building start. It’s designed for anyone who can’t yet run continuously for more than five minutes and follows a structured run/walk model. It’s free for everyone. All we ask is that you show up and commit to the journey.
The 8 week course has a group session on Wednesday evenings in Hyde Park and two homework runs for runners to do on their own. There is a supportive WhatsApp group for participants to support and encourage each other.
The next course begins 1st April: read all about it here
Sign up closes midday on Friday 27th March.
If you have any questions you can contact us at beginners@serpentine.org.uk
Improvers Programme
Our improvers programme is aimed at adults looking to extend their distance to run continuously for at least 10k or to improve their pace.
The programme is suitable for people moving on from our beginners course or anyone looking to run their first race. It is also suitable for new club members looking for an introduction to club sessions to help them improve their running – however, if your target 10k time is faster than 50 minutes, this is probably not the group for you.
When: Saturday mornings, and some mid-week evenings for 8 weeks.
To join:
- You should be able to run 5- 7km.
- You must be a club member. You can join here
Objectives:
- to improve running endurance to run continuously for 10k or further
- to improve running pace
- provide a next step for graduates from the beginners course
- introduce a framework of existing club sessions to enable participants to improve
Structure:
The programme involves a coached session or time trial on Saturday mornings, mainly in Hyde Park but also at other central London locations. We then provide guidance for participants to use existing club sessions to make up the running week, ideally 3-4 runs.
- Saturday Sessions at 9.30am. Please note time trails do not start at 9.30am
- Monday: track session to develop strength and pace. 7:00pm at Paddington Recreation Ground. Paddington Track (Mon) – Serpentine Running and Triathlon Club
- Mid-week: endurance run which we recommend is done as part of the club runs on Wednesday evening session at club runs on Wednesday’s evenings. 6.45pm from St Mary’s School, Enford Street.
The programme includes a WhatsApp group for participants to use as a community resource to share information, find similar paced running buddies for social runs and to ask advice from Club Coaches.
To get the best from the course, you should commit to running 3 times a week.
You can contact us at improvers@serpentine.org.uk
Our Next Improver Programme will start on 21st March 2026.
Cost: Free for club members (membership is only £45 a year, £20 for concessions.)
You must be a current member of the club to sign up for the Improvers’ Programme. To join the club, please click here, and then come back to this page to sign up for the course.
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