The 03 Run Club founder Oli Chignell said even he struggles to get out of bed for an early morning run.
But the creation of the run club earlier this year was just the motivation the multi New Zealand and Oceania running champion needed.
Mr Chignell founded the 03 Run Club after a four-month stint in London — the run club mecca.
Upon his return to Dunedin two years ago he thought about creating the club.
"Run clubs are popping up all over the place and I thought Dunedin could really benefit from one."
His idea finally came to life in April, when the first run of the club was held.
At 6am each Monday runners journeyed from the Esplanade towards John Wilson Ocean Dr, roughly a 30-minute run there and back.
"Something that I’ve preached is that it actually is a great way to start the week."
At the club’s first run about 10 runners attended; that has increased to between 30 to 40 on its busiest days.
It was a small club compared to the one in London he attended, where between 200 and 300 runners would turn out each run, but Dunedin was a much smaller city, he said.
Like most other run clubs, runners had a coffee after the run, opting for the Starfish Cafe & Bar to get their brew.
"It creates an actual event out of it every week instead of just making it just like any other run."
It was "cool" to see people get behind the idea, he said.
"I’d like to leave a lasting mark on running outside of my own performance and I think being able to get people enjoying running and taking part is a pretty good [motivating operation]."
He did not like to push running on to people, opting for a more relaxed approach.
"For me it's very much about getting people there and running and then if people want advice or want guidance, then I'm always there to assist.
"Running is very individual sport ... if you don't have a team sport, you don't really get that team or community environment."
The name of the club reflected Dunedin’s area code and it was 30 when flipped, the amount of time they ran each Monday, he said.
