• Always show respect to your fellow team members at all times;
• Always show respect and appreciation for the volunteers who give their time to help the team and/or event(s);
• Always be respectful to people in the community, property, and land that you encounter on our runs;
• Never yell, taunt, or threaten physical violence upon another member of the team, a volunteer or event spectator, or a community member encountered on a run
• Never use abusive language, or make racial, ethnic, or gender-related slurs or derogatory comments at team runs/events;
• Never make unwanted sexual or physical contact with other members – respect personal boundaries and ask before hugging or having other close contact with team members;
• Always abide by race rules and engage in fair competition, which includes anti-doping compliance, no course cutting, or other means of gaining a competitive advantage that is considered cheating when participating in team races or other races where you may represent the team by wearing a team-branded singlet, shirt, uniform, etc.
• Follow all rules of the road. Abide by intersection crosswalk signs, use sidewalks when available.
• Respect pedestrians, cyclists, and other path/road users. Give way to others when necessary.
• Look after the other runners within your training group; if someone is struggling, inform your run leader and make sure that they are not left on their own
• For the safety of you and those around you, the use of headphones during group runs is strongly discouraged; if you feel compelled to wear headphones during a group run, use them at a lower volume and only use them in one ear to be able to hear what is going on around you.
• Each member is a representative of Team 5am Running Madness; be mindful of your actions in public places, at events, and during training runs, as they may reflect on, and have negative consequences for the team.
• Always report violations of the Member Code of Conduct policy to the Coaches in writing via email.

Training

We have the strongest team when we work together, push each other, and encourage each other. The team environment and community are one of the key components to our training that we believe creates stronger, faster, and happier runners. All team members are expected to regularly attend Tuesday and Thursday training sessions. Travel, illness or injury, injury prevention, mental health, and self-care needs, and work schedule or family care conflicts are acceptable reasons to miss practices. If there are other reasons that prevent attendance or reasons that will prevent attendance for extended periods of time (greater than 3 weeks), team members must reach out to their coaches. Dedication and engagement with the team are the most important and if regular attendance is not possible for whatever reason, the coaches will be glad to work with the athlete to develop a plan that will keep them engaged and committed to the team.

Team training occurs M-F with a weekend long run, Tuesday and Thursdays are key workouts integral to the training process and considered mandatory. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are additional training days that team members can train independently or join the team runs. Members are encouraged to run with team members during weekly long runs.

Team members who miss training sessions for reasons other than illness, injury, or injury prevention are expected to run the workouts or similar workouts on their own time and to check in with their coaches about how the workout went to stay consistent with the team.

Training can and should be modified depending on individual runners’ needs. Team members are required to inform their coach if they are feeling any pain, excessive fatigue, or other symptoms or signs of over-training. If a runner feels they are in need of extra recovery time to prevent illness or injury, this will always be respected, but inform your coaches about how you’re feeling.

In the case of rain and other weather, the team WILL train, dress accordingly. If conditions are hazardous such as icy roads or thunderstorms, training will be rescheduled, canceled, or alternate cross-training suggestions provided.

Certain conditions may require certain gear for safety. All athletes must dress appropriately for every practice. For example in the winter when it is dark, team members must wear headlamps or carry other light devices on their run.

Team Engagement

In addition to regularly attending training sessions, athletes are required to engage with the team in a supportive manner in actions and communications. Examples of supportive communication include cheering, congratulating, encouraging team members in person or online (such as group chat or Strava). Supportive actions may include helping pace a team member, helping them complete a long-run or specific workout, attending their race to cheer them on, staying at events until all teammates are finished.

If Team members are unable to regularly attend training, they are expected to stay engaged with the team in other ways such as following the same training plan and reporting to the team, engaging on social media communications, attending long runs on weekends – this should be worked out and discussed with the Coaches.

Athletes are expected to support team long-runs by volunteering periodically throughout the year to help place fluids and fuel (Provided by Team or athletes) for runners along the course.

Athletes will not share the Team’s training plans or workout specifications with other non-members.

Athletes are expected to maintain frequent communication with coaches on their running goals and planned races.

Athletes agree to adhere to the Team Code of Conduct.

Competition and Participation in Races

Athletes will represent Team 5am Running Madness by wearing their team singlet when competing in events. Exceptions to this include if a national sponsorship prevents this. Athletes may be able to run under another team/groups’ singlet in team events in which Team 5am is not running in but they should discuss this with the coaches.

Team members should discuss their planned races with coaches.

Team members should support teammates in races, show good sportsmanship to both their teammates and other opponents, and celebrate teammates’ efforts, as well as, successes.