Four Green Fields running club motto is “A bunch of drinkers with a running problem.” If that doesn’t make you want to get up and join, I don’t know what will.
The running club meets every Tuesday, rain or shine. Runners meet up on the back outside patio area and check in.
Joining is really simple- arrive between 5:30-5:45 to register for the first time. Save time before you show up, download the waiver at tampa.fourgreenfields.com/running-club, fill it out and bring it with you. You pay $3.00 cash to join (for all eternity). That includes all you can drink water (you will need it), as well as a free pasta afterwards.
You get a plastic tag for your keychain that you use to sign in and track your runs (more on that in a moment). At 6 p.m., you run or walk 3.1 miles in a round trip from Four Green Fields down Bayshore to the metal artistic horses and back.
If the water and pasta are not enough here are my favorite things.
They have vendors that let you try out the latest sneakers to run in, as well as give you raffle tickets (on occasion) to win prizes such as shoes, bar tabs, etc...
There is plenty of eye candy (yes I said it) on Bayshore and hanging out on the patio area after the run.
Did I mention FREE Prizes? After ten 5K runs you get a FREE micro-fiber t-shirt (see picture).
After twenty-five 5K runs you get a small iron-on Irish patch, After 50 runs another patch, etc.
Four Green Fields hosts a running log - based off your plastic tag - that you can track your runs with on the official running club site. Besides being able to stalk people you know and see how many runs they have, You can also see how many runs you are away from getting a prize. This gives you plenty of time to look cute, and invite your friends to run that night so they can see how awesome you are!
All levels are welcome! Run or walk, it doesn’t matter.
The best part is the notoriety you get. Around 7 p.m. they make a pretty big deal out of what they call “T-Shirt time”. This is when they award T-shirts or patches based on your runs. Picture this...
They call you up, everyone claps, and YOU become a South Tampa athletic star for about four seconds. You then tweet, Instagram, and Facebook what just happened. I joke, but it is one of the coolest things I have done.
I am an asthma kid who decided a year ago that I needed to lose weight, be active, change my life, and make new friends. Starting at Four Green Fields was just the push I needed. I have now lost over 60 pounds and completed numerous runs, including Tough Mudder, Disney Half Marathon, and several 5Ks. I am also a Run Ambassador for Fit2Run and wait for it... Will be receiving my patch for my 50th 5K next Tuesday. Talk about going from couch potato to 5K!
If you are looking for a place to start running, make new friends, see the eye candy you normally stare at while driving down Bayshore, and officially be “one of those people” you see running on beautiful Bayshore, look no further and join me on Tuesdays at Four Green Fields!
