Tracksmith and the community

An exclusive Q&A with Tracksmith’s London Community Manager – Amritpal Ghatora

Community is centre to Tracksmith and Amritpal Ghatora leads its outreach in London.

From becoming an ambassador for Tracksmith last year to leading community activations like the Amatuer Mile and Twilight 5000, Ghatora opens up to AW about his journey and why inclusivity is so important.

How did you get involved with Tracksmith and what’s the benefit of having such an amazing place like Trackhouse in London?

I got involved in the summer of 2022 off the back of the pandemic. I transitioned from engineering into the running industry and it was a complete 180° more than anything! I was coaching at the time and I got approached to become an ambassador for Tracksmith first and foremost. During that time, I coached a couple of the long runs for Tracksmith during the summer for their 100 Days to London programme.

It was the first footprint of Tracksmith coming into London and expanding out of the US as we looked to become a global brand with an access point in London. The long runs were located out of Battersea where we did a 10 week programme, in the build-up to the 2022 London Marathon. That was the first starting point of group runs in London.

I then saw Tracksmith were hiring for a community manager to help facilitate their growth in the UK and harness the community from the Trackhouse in Marylebone once it was ready. Everything happens for a reason, some time later, here we are over a year later in that role!

How have you found being Community Manager for Tracksmith in London?

To be honest I don’t see it as work! It’s been an incredible experience, it’s a passion, whether we’ve taken someone who’s brand new to running or a person who is more experienced. We want people to come here and feel like they’re cared for. Running is a very simplistic sport and it doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. As long as we get people through the door and they feel it’s inclusive then it will continue to grow in a healthy way. Runners deserve better and that overarching motto drives a lot of the work we do.

We’ve had massive growth throughout the year and we have set up a really great baseline structure so it does give people opportunities to train for specific races or try track or cross country for the first time. So those pillars provide great access points for people to get into running. Those key elements throughout the year are big city specific brand moments where we plan, train and execute a training program for each of those events.

How significant is Trackhouse in London?

We’re very fortunate to be on Chiltern Street which is nestled in the heart of Marylebone. We are, in a small way, away from the hustle and bustle of Oxford and Regent Street. We have great access points between Regent’s Park and Hyde Park while Battersea is also just under 5 km away. That gives us great options for running routes across the city.

We also utilise the Trackhouse throughout the week for anyone to drop a bag off, freshly brewed coffee everyday along with water and refreshments. We’ll look after their bag and then go for a run. It’s a retail store but it’s still a Trackhouse with a warm yet homely feeling which is echoed by the residential nature of being on Chiltern Street.

Having the Trackhouse in London is a huge brand moment which I understand even more-so now. It acts as a gateway into becoming a global brand, it starts with London, the running culture and running scene is huge here and that access point for the brand to grow outside of the U.S. starts with London.

How about routes in London? Do you have favourites?

In terms of routes we’ve covered most blades of the city! Going along the Thames Path to the west of London always works out pretty well. Some of the most popular runs we have had are some of the hills around Hampstead Heath, as challenging as they are! That can be very beneficial to your training. We’ve also added some destination runs going out to East London, around Victoria Park and Hackney Marshes, which is actually where I grew up. During our 100 Days to London programme, we do at the end of each month, jump on board coaches and bus everyone out to various parts of the London Marathon course, split everyone into their respective pace groups and run the course back. By far, for a programming perspective were some of the standout runs we brought to the community this year.

There are different communities in each part of London that some people might not see on a daily basis. Runner’s might not necessarily see that on their own but by coming to a Tracksmith London run, they can then discover new routes, new cultures and parts of the city which they’ve not been to before.

Everyone is different and has their own story. How inspiring is that to be involved in helping tell that?

The biggest part of this whole community is the impact of the team of pacers and volunteers that we have. We offer short and long distance options so there are different access points for someone that is new to the sport or seasoned. The pacers do an incredible job, inspiring each and every runner on their own personal journey, collectively coming together which is essentially runners helping runners.

I don’t like to think we put labels on who we are. We’re here for all abilities, shapes and sizes and I try to make sure this is represented in the team we have curated and that is shown through the wider community. We’re multicultural, speak many languages and we’ve got people from all different parts of the world. As someone who is from a diverse background, this is essential to me to build that into the community so it’s open to all.

Sport has a great power to bring people together. When you’re there with the megaphone on the runs and you’re sharing it on social media, how important is that?

I think social media is one of the biggest assets we have and it’s something I was using a lot personally for my own running journey. If I can stand with that megaphone and inspire someone to come along to their very first group run, that’s one extra person we’ve added through the door.

Since the pandemic, people have decided to run with others a lot more so we’ve seen a boom. In London we have a natural vibrancy around running with great grassroots and a thriving club scene, so this harnesses what we do. We offer Speed Workouts on Wednesdays, a social Morning Miles on Fridays and our flagship run of the week, every Sunday, Church of the Long Run. There’s something for everyone and we build a lot of that training towards events and moments in the year through all of the runs that we offer on a weekly basis.

The Trackhouse feels quite homely and cosy when you come in and I guess the vibe of the place is to feel like a home?

Yeah, 100%. Coming here, walking down Chiltern Street and some of the surrounding neighbourhood it warms you, it feels very special. If you look at the colour pallets in the Trackhouse, the decor that’s been used, it provides a very warm feeling which grounds you, it’s a home away from home. It’s a Trackhouse not just for us but for everyone that comes through the door, whether it’s your first or 10th time.

The space on community run days thrives even more and we utilise the space to create a culture that allows everyone to come along. Along with the space being a retail space, with new collections it also allows us to move around the space to take in the product, and as runners, we love to wear new items on the run.

How’s the growth of Tracksmith from Boston and New York to London been for you?

It’s important to recognise that Tracksmith is a global brand and having that footprint now in London is a huge player. Part of my role is to harness the community, build and look for opportunities to grow. We have synergy in the structure between our Boston, New York and London run clubs. They’re obviously going to be different in how we deliver them and the people that come through the doors but as long as we have consistency in our framework of sessions we offer we can collectively work towards a common theme of programming. As runners, we love structure, we love elements of routine and we are essentially creatures of habit.

We’ve also had pop-ups around the Berlin Marathon and that was very well received. When I was in Boston earlier this year for the marathon it was also incredible to see how many people from the London running community went to Boston. We all feel like we’re part of one family. The network is there and that’s amplified through elements of social media because you then recognise people that you might not have ever met before in person.

If you had a message to anyone who is thinking of joining the Tracksmith running club in London, what would that be?

More than anything, we have a programme set up that can cater for you. Let’s look at January through to April where we build throughout the 100 Days to London long run series ahead of the London Marathon in April. We continue to offer the same long run throughout the year with access points into these runs with short and long distance options. With brand moments like the Amatuer Mile and Twilight 5000 in the summer, we have a full year of community activations that really can cover all types of runners looking for community.

To get you on that start line, we have pacers at the top end if someone wants to run a sub-3 compared to a person looking at six hours in the marathon. We provide you with the opportunity to run throughout the city, at every long run there are coffee, water and bananas available.

If you’re not looking to do any specific race and just want to come to run and socialise with people, hang and have a connection, then this space is also for you. Throughout the week, the Trackhouse is open whether it’s your first few miles or your 1000th mile, we treat everyone of them the same. We’re always looking to be as inclusive and diverse as possible whether that’s through our community members or simply me standing in front welcoming everyone through the doors. It really is runners helping runners.

» Find out more about Tracksmith here

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