CUAC has an agreement with Cardiff Met Sports to use their athletics facilities at their Cyncoed campus
The facilities are easily accesible by running or cycling (as well as car and bus) from the Cathays Park or Heath Park campuses or the Talybont residences. Cyncoed is very near University Hall.
We make use of the National Indoors Athletics Centre (NIAC), which was the UK's first purpose built indoors athletics track, and the Outdoor Athletics Facility, which includes a floodlit, 6 lane 400m track and multiple field event areas.
These are top-class facilities that we are lucky to use, allowing CUAC to train all-year round whatever the weather.
Our use of the track
See the training pages of the website for details of when we use the tracks.
In summary:
For the endurance sesssion on Tuesdays, we don't use the track in October whilst the light is good & training for the beginning of the XC season - we train at the Heath Park instead. Then we use the track on Tuesday evenings all year round including during the summer. Sometimes we do the Saturday morning endurance session at the track too. On Tuesday evenings for the endurance session, we typically organise warm-up runs from the back of the SU at Cathays Park as well as from Talypoint to the track, if possible, especailly during the beginning of term. Check our social media that day to see if we are offering these.
We NEVER use NIAC for the Monday & Friday beginners' session or the Wednesday club run session or the Thursday intervals session. If you only attend these sessions, you won't need a track membership.
Sprints & jumps & throws use NIAC all year round. No warm-up runs are offered for these sessions.
Purchasing a NIAC/track membership
If you wish to attend sessions at the indoor or outdoor track, you must purchase an additional NIAC/track membership from the Club. The cost, which includes a large subsidy provided by the Club, is £70. Membership runs to 30th June 2023.
Please only purchase a track membership once you are sure that you wish to attend the track sessions rather than other training sessions organised by the Club. And for endurance runners, there is no rush to purchase a track membership in the first part of the autumn term. Speak to any of the committee members or captains about which sessions use the NIAC/track.
How to purchase a NIAC/track membership provided by CUAC
1) You must be a full member of the Club before purchasing a NIAC/track membership. Erasmus members or Tri members must purchase full club membership to access the track membership (please contact the Treasurer to upgrade).
2) Purchase the NIAC/track membership from our home page on this website.
3) Download the Cardiff Met Sport app and register
4) After registration, navigate on the app to 'Accounts' and find your Cardiff Met Sport member number
5) Send your name, member number and uni email to the Club Treasurer's personal email address (roostaeim@cardiff.ac.uk) from your CU email account
6) The Treasurer will process your NIAC/track membership with Cardiff Met Sport
Please address all questions about purchasing NIAC/track memberships to the Treasurer Malek Roostaei (roostaeim@cardiff.ac.uk) or text his number on the Whatsapp groupchat
How your NIAC membership is processed - Monday 9am deadline weekly
1) The Treasurer must first process your track membership once you have sent through your Cardiff Met Sport number with Cardiff Met
2) The dealine for sending through your number is Monday at 9 am every week - after that your membership will be processed the week after
3) It then takes a few days for Cardiff Met to process your membership. Once it is processed, you should be able to book the indoor & outdoor track & athletics performance gym for £0.
Accessing the track & NIAC through pay-as-you go
If you are wish to try out the sessions at the tracks before purchasing a NIAC/track membership, especially during Give it a Go, you can gain access through pay-as-you-go. This costs £7.5, which you purchase directly from Cardiff Met.
1) Download the Cardiff Met Sport app and register
2) Navigate on the app to 'Homepage' > Make a Booking > Book Sessions & Facilities > Book Track Sessions
3) For Tuesdays, pay for the evening session even if the CUAC session begins earlier or later than as advertised on the app