Performance Team - Details

Performance Team › Details

Motivation and Background


Front Runners New York has cultivated a thriving, vibrant, and welcoming community of LGBTQIA runners and allies. It has brought together runners who are able to proudly display their queer identities through training and competing.

With the introduction of the Performance Team, we aim to build a team of runners within FRNY to represent the club in elite or local elite competition. The goals of the team include the following:

  • Fostering structured community for those training and competing at a local elite to elite level

  • Representation and recognition of elite running within the club’s structure and culture

  • More advanced coaching and training opportunities targeted to the goals of our highest-performing runners

FRNY has already done an incredible job of creating LGBTQIA representation within the broader New York running community. We now have the opportunity to take that one step further. By creating a structured and well-supported performance team, Front Runners can start building a community of elite queer runners that does not currently exist anywhere else.

Mission Statement


To foster a community of LGBTQIA runners who want to train and compete on a local elite level while proudly representing their queer identities. 

Team Structure


In order for this team to operate, we need to make sure that there are direct lines of communication between the FRNY Board, coaches, and the team itself. To ensure this, each gender division for the teams will elect 1-2 team captains.* The responsibilities of the team captains are as follows:

  • Coordinate with FRNY coaches to build training schedules for the performance team

  • Organize the performance team for practices, long runs, etc

  • Coordinate with the coaching committee/board on behalf of the performance team

  • Organize and plan points race participation

  • Ensure that the performance team represents the FRNY spirit (i.e. volunteers at cheer zones, participates in the club in other ways, supports and cheers for FRNY members regardless of ability, etc)

  • Generally build community/camaraderie for elite LGBTQ+ runners

  • Work as primary points of contact for recruitment/selection into the performance team

* Nominations and elections will be held annually before the first points race of each year, to be voted on by confirmed team members for that calendar year. Elections will only be held for a gender division if there is more than one nominee for captain of that division.

Coaching Support


Running is not a “one size fits all” sport. Some runners respond better to different kinds of workouts and mileage, and those hoping to run fast times sometimes need workouts with higher volume or intensity to reach their goals. 

Additionally, many elite runners are more in touch with the nuances, science, and methodology behind training and enjoy building and crafting their training plan with a coach rather than just being told what to run.

In order to address these concerns without taking direct coach support away from other members in the club, the performance team/coach relationship is set up in the following way:

Several times a year, the coaches and the team captains for the performance team have a meeting where they design the workouts and long runs for the performance team, focused on competing in the club points races. Anyone from the club is allowed to join to give their opinion or simply hear the methodology behind crafting a schedule. When the schedule is finalized, it will be visible to everyone in the club, not just the performance team. 

Approaching the performance team training in this way gives more elite runners a say in how the workouts are crafted, ensuring that they’re more satisfied with the training provided. Additionally, structuring the “extra support” this way takes no time or resources away from runners outside of the performance team. Anyone can come to the meetings, anyone can come to the workouts.

All club members are welcome to participate in the "performance" workouts. However, members should be aware that intense workouts can lead to injuries and overtraining if the body is not adequately prepared or conditioned for them. 

Criteria


Criteria for the team should be explicit and transparent and be calibrated such that it is an achievable reach-goal for those runners who are motivated to take their running to the next level. Members can join the performance team if they meet the qualifying times below, with the following requirements:

  • Qualifying race must be within the last 12 months

  • Age-graded percentage must be from a 5K or longer distance

  • Must be an in-person race (not a virtual race)

(Qualifying age-graded percentages and times will be revisited annually and updated as needed to ensure inclusivity across genders based on our membership)

Men

Raced at 70%+ age-graded time

Women

Raced at 65%+ age-graded time

Non-Binary

Raced at 65%+ age-graded time—by the women’s age-graded standard. Because there is not currently an established age-graded percentage calculator for non-binary runners, we are using female age-graded percentage as the qualification standard for the non-binary team (we might establish a different standard in the future as more data becomes available).

Benefits

  • More advanced coached workouts (also outlined in the coached workout emails and training schedules)

  • Opportunities to meet directly with coaches and team captains to help design the training plans, provide feedback, and ask questions

  • Easily connect with runners at or around your same pace or with compatible schedules

  • Recognition on the FRNY website (with opt-out option)

More benefits might be added in the future.

Conclusion


As queer athletes, we are continuously told that we cannot do or do not belong in sports because of our identities. Running is no exception. Elite running has historically been dominated by toxic, heternomative stereotypes and cultures. In a world where misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic content persists at all levels of competition including some elite running communities, the need for elite queer athlete representation is more important than ever.

It’s important to note that the performance team is part of a broader effort to continue improving our coaching program and participation in training and races in general. This is intended to improve these aspects of the club for all members, and promote visibility of their accomplishments in the wider community.

By building a performance team, FRNY builds an opportunity for this much needed representation and creates a space for any elite athlete to compete and train while proudly displaying their individual identities.