2 October 2026

Yes, you can bring the kids. Parents run with prams and bring school aged children to community runs all the time, and Hills Run Club is set up so you can too: running with the club is free, walkers are welcome at every run, and each run has a short distance option so nobody gets left behind. The part worth getting right is what to check before you go, especially when a baby is riding in the pram.

What a community run looks like for a parent

Hills Run Club meets twice a week in the Hills District of Sydney, and both runs work for families because they are laps of a set distance rather than a long point to point route.

The Thursday Morning Run meets at 5:45am for a 6:00am start at Glenhaven Oval, 78 Glenhaven Road, Glenhaven. You can do one 2.5 km lap or the 5 km option, and one lap is a full run in its own right. Afterwards there is coffee and a sweet treat, which is a very good excuse to stay a while longer while the pram rocks a sleepy baby.

The Tuesday Night Run happens every second Tuesday at Castle Hill Showground, under the lights. Meet at 6:45pm for a 7:00pm start, enter via Doran Drive (the entrance closest to the metro), take the first left and follow the road to the lit oval, where the group meets at the large shed. There is plenty of parking around the shed, which matters when you are wrangling a pram and a nappy bag. Distances are 3 km or 6 km.

Walkers are welcome at both runs. If you are rebuilding fitness after having kids, walking a lap with the pram is a completely legitimate way to start.

Running with a pram: what to check first

Before you bring a pram to any run, there are a few things worth sorting out, and most of them come down to the pram rather than the club.

• Your baby's age. Most pram makers suggest waiting until about six months, when babies can hold their head up steadily, before you run with them on board. Check with your GP or child health nurse and follow your own pram's guidance.
• The pram itself. Prams designed for running, usually with three wheels and good suspension, handle a quicker pace more smoothly than a standard pram. A regular pram is fine for a walk paced lap.
• Your pace. Running with a pram slows most people down a little. That is no problem at a club like this one: there is no pace to keep up with, and the short option means you are never far from the start.
• The conditions. Both runs are held on ovals, and the Tuesday night run is under lights. Pack for your passenger rather than yourself: a sunshade for a morning run, a warm layer for the evening.

Bringing school aged kids along

Once kids are out of the pram and into runners, a community run is one of the easiest ways to make movement a family habit. The club's whole premise is that showing up matters more than being fast, so a child who runs the short option, walks parts of it or stops to pat a dog is fitting in, not holding anyone up.

The short distance options do a lot of work here. A school aged child can finish 2.5 km or 3 km with a parent, feel proud of it, and be rewarded with coffee and a sweet treat. And if the worry is keeping up with the quickest runners, there is no need: everyone moves at their own pace.

If the doubt is more about feeling out of place than about pace, our guide to whether you need to be fast to join a run club covers it properly.

Thursday Morning Run or Tuesday Night Run for families?

The morning run suits parents of babies who are up early anyway. The night run suits anyone whose household only frees up after dinner, and the lit oval makes it easy to keep an eye on the kids while you run.

How to join your first run

Every run is free, and every run is registered in HRC+, the club's free membership program.

• Make a free HRC+ account at hillsrunclub.com/hrc-plus/.
• Register for the run you want to join, in HRC+.
• Check what is coming up on the runs page.
• Arrive a few minutes before the meeting time, and stay for the coffee afterwards.

Not sure what a first run actually feels like? Our guide to how to join a running club walks through it, from the welcome to the finish.

Questions parents ask