What is RHWB?

Runners High With Bala (RHWB) is a running club with a core mission to “Develop, connect and create a strong network of amazing human beings”. At its core, the club's goal is to help participants achieve their 5K, 10K, Half/Full/Ultra Marathon through a 16 week training program. RHWB is led by its founder, Head Coach Bala with support from 10+ RRCA certified long distance running coaches and management team. It is registered as an LLC under the state of NJ, USA:  RHWB LLC

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Who runs RHWB?

RHWB is run by an army of VOLUNTEERS who believe in the simple tenet that the greatest form of giving is the gift of health for thier fellow human beings. All of them are RHWB runners who decided to give more than they take! They all have their day job, regular life, work, family... but still decided to give extraordinary amount of their time/expertise for the cause of RHWB - Which is to build a network of amazing human beings by giving them the gift of health!

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Is RHWB registered as a Non Profit organization?

No. For ease of admin and control purposes it is registered as RHWB LLC. That said, we are operating the entire biz with service & driving impact in people's lives as an objective and not with a profit mindset. We seek a minimal sum to fund bare minimum requirements for running this organization: Think Final Surge (Coaching app) Subscription, admin cost, Zoom subscription, this website hosting cost, adobe e sign for waiver etc. Our goal is not to make money with this, but rather to drive impact in people's lives! Whatever $ we save every season we plan to use it to further develop RHWB infrastructure to better serve its community

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How many seasons completed so far?

RHWB has successfully completed 11 seasons so far. Season 12 will be conducted between June  to October 2024

 

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Getting started with RHWB

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Is there any eligibility to join RHWB ?

Everyone welcome. All we ask for you is to bring your 'A' game in our 3 key pillars:  Commitment, Resilience and attitude to have fun.

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I would like to watch/rewatch RHWB Orientation training module. How to access that ?

It brings us a smile to our face to see a dedicated runner like yourself!. This is how respecting the sport looks like. You take it seriously and the sport will give back a lot to you. 

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Click this link to access the orientation video

(Note: Best experience for the orientation video is on a desktop/laptop)

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What is RHWB Lite Program and how does it differ from RHWB Pro Edition?

To understand Lite offering, let us first understand what are the key elements of a full regular season:

1. Structured and scientific training plan developed by RRCA certified long distance running coaches delivered through coaching app - FINAL SURGE

2. Weekly podcast and coaching messages developed by our head Coach Bala and his team

3. Exclusive RHWB website with a myriad of running content, discussion boards, access to past material, etc

4. Coach 1-1 monitoring of your runs and feedback

 

‘RHWB Lite’ program will get access to the first 3 points above. You will not be assigned a specific (#4 above). In the Lite program, a coach will not be monitoring your progress and providing feedback on your runs. However your access to items 1-3 will put you on a path to a scientific self driven training supported by a large community of runners. If you want to understand more about this program, click here to listen to Head Coach Bala explain this program

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I have completed all my onboarding registration formalities. What should I do next?

 

• Wait for further instructions from RHWB management team.

• Go ahead and connect your Final surge account to your running watch. 

• Your Coach will soon set up smaller cohorts in whatsapp. This will be a much smaller group for your coach to help you get started and be ready for the season start.

• In the meanwhile register in this website and explore various content in the site - Past season podcasts with runners, Coach Corner messages from past season, Gears, Recipes, Doctors@RHWB, Pets@RHWB, Past season photos/videos etc

• Use the discussion boards to ask any questions you may have. We all will be monitoring it and responding to it regularly

 

I saw my Coach allocation.. Can I get another one?

All our Coaches are great. They are seasoned runners, been with RHWB training program for multiple seasons and are RRCA certified. They all are passionate runners and are rigorously trained. A lot of thought has gone into it to create a framework to allocate a coach for you.. So pls stick with the allocation. You will soon get to know & love your Coaches, your coach Cohorts and hopefully your runs!

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Fees @ RHWB

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Why am I paying $60 when I hear someone else is paying only $30?

$60 - New runner registration fees for Pro program 

$30 - Return runner season registration

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$35 - New runner registration fees for Lite program  

$15 - Return runner registration fees for Lite program

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Note: This is the cheapest form of coaching you will get anywhere on running. And what we offer is not just boilerplate coaching, we strive to provide customized coaching at scale by folks who truly are driven by driving impact in other people's lives and a way to connect to a vibrant community of global runners (aka amazing human beings!). We sincerely hope by end of this season you will see the value you get from RHWB far outweighs the $$ you are giving to RHWB

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Why do I have to pay transaction fees?

The website platform we use 'Wix.com' charges the said transaction fees to provide the ease of using Credit card in application and other purchases. Given we operate with very tight margins (so that we can offer this world class training program to you at a bare min cost), we have no other option but to pass on our cost to you.  (~$1 for return runners and ~$2 for new runners)

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Why have fees at all if the entire program is volunteer driven?

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The price you are paying for now covers the following:

Pro Program - Season fees, Final Surge Access & Completion medal

Lite Program - Season fees & Final Surge Access

 

As we develop and expand , we are investing heavily on tech platform to support our massive growth.  As a registered company we now have additional business expense that we need to take care of which were not incurred in seasons past (eg: Tax filing, Statutory filing, Storage space for various items, Zoom webinar access etc). Additionally due to our focus on keeping costs down for all our offerings (eg: T shirts, Race day) we end up loosing money on these activities that we recoup from registration fees. 
 

 

Getting Ready to Run

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Do you have any recommendations for Shoes?

Shoes are the most important purchase you will make. Road-running shoes are designed for pavement and occasional forays onto packed surfaces with slight irregularities. There is no one-size-fits-all shoe. Depending on your running style, you will have to choose a pair of shoes from the three categories of running shoe support. If you are in New Jersey, visit https://www.roadrunnersports.com/ store to find out which shoe style best fits you. Also check out our Gears section under resources. https://www.runnershighwithbala.com/gears

 

Do I really need to buy a watch? Why can't I manage it with just my phone?

Well fair question.. the larger question you should ask yourself though is Do I really need a formal coach and a structured coaching program?

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If the answer is Yes.. then yes you need a watch.. else your coach won't be able to see your runs, your runs metrics and give you .. err..coaching.

 

If the answer is No.. then of course you do not need a watch and you do not need a coach or this program either! 🙂. So you should consider leaving this program.

 

Net net.. the answer is YES

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Do I need to buy a watch for my kid as well? And does it need to be connected to his own phone?

Yes. Watch is a fundamental requirement for all runners in the program as it is through  your watch only your Coach can monitor your run and offer coaching! The key requirement is to connect this watch to Final Surge so that coach can read your running data from Final surge. You can connect the watch to final surge through your phone or through your desktop. 

Hence for a kid who is just starting up, you should buy him/her a running watch and connect that watch to final surge through desktop. Only thing to do then is after every run, connect the watch to desktop and upload the data. 

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A good starter Garmin running watch you can consider: Forerunner 45, Forerunner 55, Forerunner 245

Check this garmin website link for a quick overview of the watches

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Why are you insisting on Garmin or iwatch.. why not FS or Samsung or other watches?

First of all Garmin is the Rolls Royce of running watches. They are world class, affordable, rugged and have their own GPS Satellites orbiting the earth. (So not dependent on your phone to measure your runs or other third party providers). Garmin was originally a GPS company!

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The key requirement for us is your running watch is able to track all the running metrics and transfer it to the coaching app. All watches except Garmin and iWatch do not do this correctly and hence coaching gets disrupted. No Metrics .. No coaching!

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Finally.. you are on a journey now to transform hopefully your lifestyle with running. Consider this a small investment on yourself!