About
Run Club Menlo Park is a running program where kids take part in running, cross-country running, track running, and running games such as Clue Relay, Sharks & Minnows, and Chaos Tag. During the Spring Season, the program includes two 5K races, a 3K trail race, and a Sunday Hill Clinic at Bedwell Bayfront Park, with optional USATF track racing opportunities for advanced runners. The program accepts beginner runners with no previous running experience as well as advanced runners, and includes special needs runners, including those with autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy.
• Ages: 7–14 years old
• Schedule: Two seasons each year (Fall and Spring); Spring Season runs for 8 weeks with runners attending two practices per week (some advanced runners attend three)
• Price: Cost: $660 (RCMP is the least expensive MPCSD after-school program).
Run Club Menlo Park’s Spring Season includes 16 practices plus one Hill Clinic, with practices held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3:15–4:45, and runners from schools other than Encinal able to arrive at 3:30 without missing any running. The program focuses on high-intensity interval training rather than high mileage, and racing is 100% optional and approached as pressure-free, focusing on personal times rather than places. Three rules at Run Club are: Have Fun; More Running/Less Walking over the course of a season; and When Someone Else is Talking, Everybody Else is Listening, and the program states that “The First Rule of Run Club: Have Fun!”
Many practices include a social-emotional lesson or theme such as Compromise, Cooperation, Gratitude, Burden vs. Opportunity, and the program includes themes like “Be a Good Friend.” On average over the past three seasons, 89% of runners have returned to run the next season. Weather policies state that practices are cancelled at 95 degrees or higher, run in light rain, suspended for thunder or lightning, and cancelled for AQI 100 or above, and carpooling between parents from other schools is commonly arranged.
Run Club Menlo Park is an official USA Track & Field youth running club registered with USA Track & Field, and offers opportunities to participate in local, regional, and national competitions through USA Track & Field. Run Club was one of only two clubs in the US (out of 344 attending) that qualified teams in all four of the younger racing groups at Junior Olympic Nationals in Indiana, and in Fall Cross-Country Season, the Girls 8 & Unders, Girls 9–10s, and Boys 9–10s all won the Pacific Association Junior Olympic Championships at Golden Gate Park. Out of 70 runners who tried to qualify for Junior Olympic Nationals in Indiana, 32 made it, and Run Club had four 2025 race champions including three USATF Cross-Country Meet winners.
Head Coach Scott Paterson is the Founder and Head Coach of Run Club Menlo Park and is a United States Track & Field certified Cross-Country Specialist running coach and Safe-Sport certified by the US Center for SafeSport. Coach Scott was a New York State High School Cross-Country Champion in 1984, set numerous high school cross-country course records across New England including the Boston Franklin Park Course record in 1985, and ran varsity cross-country and track for Dartmouth College (NCAA Division I) from 1986–90 with best times of 4:14 for the mile and 52:19 for 10 miles. He was recruited by Vin Lananna, who later became the 2016 US Olympic Track & Field Head Coach and is the current President of USA Track & Field, and he is also the Founder & CEO of Poverty2Prosperity.org, a non-profit that has funded over 65,000 zero-percent interest loans to the working poor around the world since 2008 with a 99% repayment rate.
Assistant Coach Kristi Berg is a certified Cross-Country Specialist running coach, Safe-Sport certified, and has been the assistant coach since 2022. Coach Kristi has coached runners for over 12 years with Road Runners Club of America, Siena Youth Center for Boys & Girls, and USA Track & Field, and she has run 57 marathons (including 6 Boston Marathons) and over 100 half-marathons. Coach Scott has been a Menlo Park resident since 1996, Poverty2Prosperity.org has funded loans since 2008, and Coach Kristi has been coaching at Run Club since Fall Season 2022.
Run Club Menlo Park states that if it had a mission, it would be to give kids a positive experience with running so that they are either inclined to continue doing it or open to returning to it later in life. Run Club Menlo Park received a Proclamation from the City of Menlo Park in May 2025, and Run Club receives running shoe discounts and a welcome kit from Fleet Feet Menlo Park. In May 2025, Run Club Menlo Park also received a Proclamation from the City of Menlo Park recognizing the program.
Each brand new runner receives a Run Club stainless steel water bottle, and the program includes occasional practice goodies such as lap counters, bracelets, and stickers, a snack and drink at the end of each practice, and an end-of-season T-shirt. The program does not include USATF Youth Membership (about $40) and does not include race fees for the My Heart Counts 5K at Stanford, and families register separately if attending.
Parent testimonials describe runners learning about pacing, stretching, training, form, breathing, and teamwork in a low-key, non-competitive environment where participants improve together and make new friends. Parents report that Coach Scott incorporates social-emotional learning, uses themes like “Be a Good Friend,” and that some runners who had never run before now enjoy running and competing and look forward to returning to Run Club. Testimonials also state that the program supports health, independence, and community, and that parents recommend Run Club Menlo Park to other parents, including those whose children think they do not like running.
Last updated April 27, 2026.
• Ages: 7–14 years old
• Schedule: Two seasons each year (Fall and Spring); Spring Season runs for 8 weeks with runners attending two practices per week (some advanced runners attend three)
• Price: Cost: $660 (RCMP is the least expensive MPCSD after-school program).
Run Club Menlo Park’s Spring Season includes 16 practices plus one Hill Clinic, with practices held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3:15–4:45, and runners from schools other than Encinal able to arrive at 3:30 without missing any running. The program focuses on high-intensity interval training rather than high mileage, and racing is 100% optional and approached as pressure-free, focusing on personal times rather than places. Three rules at Run Club are: Have Fun; More Running/Less Walking over the course of a season; and When Someone Else is Talking, Everybody Else is Listening, and the program states that “The First Rule of Run Club: Have Fun!”
Many practices include a social-emotional lesson or theme such as Compromise, Cooperation, Gratitude, Burden vs. Opportunity, and the program includes themes like “Be a Good Friend.” On average over the past three seasons, 89% of runners have returned to run the next season. Weather policies state that practices are cancelled at 95 degrees or higher, run in light rain, suspended for thunder or lightning, and cancelled for AQI 100 or above, and carpooling between parents from other schools is commonly arranged.
Run Club Menlo Park is an official USA Track & Field youth running club registered with USA Track & Field, and offers opportunities to participate in local, regional, and national competitions through USA Track & Field. Run Club was one of only two clubs in the US (out of 344 attending) that qualified teams in all four of the younger racing groups at Junior Olympic Nationals in Indiana, and in Fall Cross-Country Season, the Girls 8 & Unders, Girls 9–10s, and Boys 9–10s all won the Pacific Association Junior Olympic Championships at Golden Gate Park. Out of 70 runners who tried to qualify for Junior Olympic Nationals in Indiana, 32 made it, and Run Club had four 2025 race champions including three USATF Cross-Country Meet winners.
Head Coach Scott Paterson is the Founder and Head Coach of Run Club Menlo Park and is a United States Track & Field certified Cross-Country Specialist running coach and Safe-Sport certified by the US Center for SafeSport. Coach Scott was a New York State High School Cross-Country Champion in 1984, set numerous high school cross-country course records across New England including the Boston Franklin Park Course record in 1985, and ran varsity cross-country and track for Dartmouth College (NCAA Division I) from 1986–90 with best times of 4:14 for the mile and 52:19 for 10 miles. He was recruited by Vin Lananna, who later became the 2016 US Olympic Track & Field Head Coach and is the current President of USA Track & Field, and he is also the Founder & CEO of Poverty2Prosperity.org, a non-profit that has funded over 65,000 zero-percent interest loans to the working poor around the world since 2008 with a 99% repayment rate.
Assistant Coach Kristi Berg is a certified Cross-Country Specialist running coach, Safe-Sport certified, and has been the assistant coach since 2022. Coach Kristi has coached runners for over 12 years with Road Runners Club of America, Siena Youth Center for Boys & Girls, and USA Track & Field, and she has run 57 marathons (including 6 Boston Marathons) and over 100 half-marathons. Coach Scott has been a Menlo Park resident since 1996, Poverty2Prosperity.org has funded loans since 2008, and Coach Kristi has been coaching at Run Club since Fall Season 2022.
Run Club Menlo Park states that if it had a mission, it would be to give kids a positive experience with running so that they are either inclined to continue doing it or open to returning to it later in life. Run Club Menlo Park received a Proclamation from the City of Menlo Park in May 2025, and Run Club receives running shoe discounts and a welcome kit from Fleet Feet Menlo Park. In May 2025, Run Club Menlo Park also received a Proclamation from the City of Menlo Park recognizing the program.
Each brand new runner receives a Run Club stainless steel water bottle, and the program includes occasional practice goodies such as lap counters, bracelets, and stickers, a snack and drink at the end of each practice, and an end-of-season T-shirt. The program does not include USATF Youth Membership (about $40) and does not include race fees for the My Heart Counts 5K at Stanford, and families register separately if attending.
Parent testimonials describe runners learning about pacing, stretching, training, form, breathing, and teamwork in a low-key, non-competitive environment where participants improve together and make new friends. Parents report that Coach Scott incorporates social-emotional learning, uses themes like “Be a Good Friend,” and that some runners who had never run before now enjoy running and competing and look forward to returning to Run Club. Testimonials also state that the program supports health, independence, and community, and that parents recommend Run Club Menlo Park to other parents, including those whose children think they do not like running.
Last updated April 27, 2026.
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