It’s more fun in a crowd
Taking part in events is great fun and gives you a real sense of achievement. 

Thames Valley Association of Running Clubs 5k Summer Series
Series of 5ks that take place through the late spring and early summer, usually on a Tuesday night, between 7 local running clubs: 
Each club hosts a 5k and provides Marshalling, Car Parking etc for the race along with a social reception after the run, Tea, cakes buffet etc. The 5K Summer series is a very friendly, social event and attracts up to 300 runners from within the 7 clubs of all levels of ability and fitness.

Chiltern Cross Country League
The club is entered to compete in the five races in the Chiltern League taking place this Winter.  It will be a fantastic team event as our juniors and seniors will be running. Unlike any other running events, the emphasis is NOT on times, but on finishing positions. Every place counts!  It will be unlike any race you have run - in a good way. The Chiltern League is the second biggest cross country league in the UK with 100 plus runners in each race. The courses for the Under 11s, U13s and U15s are entirely on grass. For other age groups, the terrain is mixed - grass, trails and paths through the woods.

Parkrun: Saturday mornings throughout the year
Parkruns are a 5km run around a marked trail with a large field of mixed-ability runners. All events are fully run by volunteers and are free to enter.  The Parkruns take place every weekend, CRC try to send a group to run together once a month, usually on the first Saturday of the month unless there is a conflicting event.
You need to register on the Parkrun website to be allocated a personal barcode. Take a printout with you to the event and your recorded time will be posted on the website. It will also record your stats for any future Park Runs you do, enabling you to track your progress. 
More information about runs at Parkruns on the website - click here.

Club 5k and 1k Handicap Races
These are run by the club on a Saturday morning by the river.  The idea of the handicap is to create a race where any member of the club could win.  Every club member has a handicap number based on their seasons best time, this number represents the number of minutes from the race start time you will start, for instance if your handicap number is 8 you will start at 7.38pm. The person with the seasons best time will go last so ideally the most improved runner will win. The cost of the race is £1 per runner and the winner will get the prize money but will need to provide the next month's winner a prize.  This could be anything from a bunch of flowers or bottle of wine or even a joke prize. If you have not got a recorded 5k time this year you can still take part, you will start at the 10 minute mark but if you win it won't be counted and your time will be used for all future handicap races.  There will be an annual award to the person who has the most points at the end of the year. To score points you achieve 1 point for finishing last, 2pts for finishing 2nd last and so on.