Running Club Membership Card Printing
CP Cards have been supplying Running Club membership cards to UK clubs and organisations for over 30 years.
Every card is printed here in England, no overseas production and delays.
Orders start from just 25 cards, free delivery is included as standard, and we'll email you a photorealistic proof before anything goes to print.
Running clubs typically use membership cards to confirm current governing-body affiliation, which is often required before a member can compete in a licensed race under the club's colours. Clubs commonly organise members into pace groups, and some print a member's usual group or distance specialism on the card to help run leaders plan sessions. Volunteers marshalling the club's own race series are frequently issued a card as event ID.
About our Plastic Running Club Membership Cards
Example Running Club Membership Card Prices 760 microns thick
| Quantity | Price from |
|---|---|
| 25 | £75.00 |
| 50 | £79.00 |
| 100 | £85.00 |
| 200 | £99.00 | 250 | £109.00 |
| 500Popular | £175.00 |
| 1000 | £245.00 |
Prices include free UK delivery & for one design to be printed from your print ready artwork sent to the correct specifications, see our artwork guide.
Prices exclude VAT & optional extras.
Need a different quantity? Contact us for a quote.
Get a Quote for Running Club Membership Cards
Running Club Membership Cards printed
Two things justify a running club card: the affiliation number, which every race entry asks for and every member hunts for, and an emergency contact, which is often the only identification a runner has on them.
Both are per-member, and variable data covers both in one run. Solid PVC, full colour on both sides, free delivery within Great Britain, from 25 cards.
There are running club membership card examples below, and full specifications on our membership card printing page.
What a Running Club Membership Card Should Carry
The front carries the club name and vest colours, the runner’s name, a membership number and the year — and, most usefully of all, the club’s affiliation number. Every licensed race entry asks for it, at the affiliated entry rate, and every runner hunts for it every single time. Printing it on the card removes a small, recurring irritation from your members’ lives, which is a surprisingly good reason for them to carry it.
Clubs that split sessions by pace or distance often add the runner’s usual group, which makes sorting out a Tuesday night session considerably quicker for whoever is leading it.
The reverse is best given over to an emergency contact. Runners carry almost nothing, so a membership card in a belt or jacket pocket is frequently the only identification on them. Printing an emergency name and number in the largest type the space allows, with room for a medical note if the runner wants one, is the most valuable thing the back of the card can do. Club night times and meeting points fill what is left.
A Card That Gets Run With, Not Just Carried
Running club cards are not stored, they are used: zipped into a running belt, strapped into an armband, pushed into a jacket pocket on a wet ten-miler, pressed against a sweating back for an hour at a time. Then, inevitably, the kit goes in the wash with the card still in it.
Paper does not survive one outing of that. Our running club cards are 760-micron solid PVC with the design sealed beneath the card’s own surface, so sweat cannot soften them and a washing machine cycle leaves them exactly as they were.
That durability is what makes the emergency contact worth printing in the first place. A contact number only helps if it is still legible when somebody actually needs to read it, which might be eleven months after the card was issued and at the end of a very wet winter.
Options That Suit Running Clubs
Variable data is the one to look at first, because the two most useful fields on a running club card — the runner’s affiliation number and their own emergency contact — are different on every card. Send an Excel file containing only the details to be printed and each card is individually printed with its own, all within one production run and with no extra artwork charge.
Colour coding by pace or distance group does the same job it does in any club: it saves a run leader from reading twenty cards in a car park in the dark.
Clubs that put on their own race series usually want a second batch for marshals. A 5mm punched hole 6mm in from the edge means those cards hang from a lanyard and stay visible at a junction, which is the whole point of a marshal being there.
And a QR code — square, 15mm minimum — pointing at your race calendar or route library keeps the card uncluttered while letting you change what is behind it as often as you like.
Running Club Membership Card Examples
The running club cards below use vest colours on
the front — the vest is the club’s identity and members recognise it at
once.
The ones that work hardest give the reverse to an emergency contact in large type,
with club nights fitted around it. Send us your vest design and we will build the
card that way.
Get your Quotation Now!
For a running club the quote depends on whether each card carries its own
affiliation number and emergency contact — which it should.
That is variable data, priced as part of a single production run. Tell us your
membership number and whether you want a separate punched batch for marshals at the
club’s own races.
Quotes emailed within 10 minutes,
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm.
Design Service
Vest design, no card design?
Our Design Service handles the rest
for just £29 +vat
Send the vest artwork or a photograph of one. We will take the colours and club mark
off it, give the affiliation number the prominence it earns on the front, and set the
emergency contact on the reverse at the biggest size the space allows.
You see a proof before we print.
Artwork Fixing Service
Running club artwork usually exists, because vests had to be printed by somebody
— it is worth asking your kit supplier before sending us a photograph.
Where the club mark needs redrawing from a photograph, our artwork fixing service
covers it for just £10 +vat along with sizing, bleed and
colour-mode corrections.
Free Photorealistic Email Proof
To give you complete confidence before we go to print, we’ll email you a
free, high-quality, computer-generated photorealistic proof of your full colour plastic Running Club membership cards.
This realistic mock-up shows how your finished Running Club membership cards will look, so you can check and approve the layout, text and overall design before production begins.
Fast Production Time
Running club membership generally renews against the affiliation year, and members
want the number in hand before entering spring races at the affiliated rate.
Production is 7 working days from proof
approval, with 4 working day express available.
Order as renewals close rather than waiting for the last few. The members who renew
late are rarely the ones entering races in March.
Free Delivery
FREE DELIVERY throughout Great Britain, whatever
the quantity.
Running clubs meet at a leisure centre car park or a pub, so cards go to the
membership secretary and get handed out on club night. Plain unbranded packaging,
no paperwork inside.
If marshal cards for your own race series go to a different organiser, say so and we
will box them separately.
Made in England
Vest colours are usually strong and specific, and they are the first thing to drift
between print suppliers.
Printing every run here on the same press means the card a member gets this year
matches the one they had last year and matches the vest it was taken from. For a club
whose whole visual identity is one colour combination, that
consistency is the point.
Artwork stays on file for reorders.
100% Recyclable
Annual affiliation means annual reissue, so each member generates a card a year and
last year’s goes in the bin.
Ours are solid PVC and recycle through
standard household and commercial facilities,
unlike the laminated cards they often replace.
Biodegradable cards survive a running belt
and a wash cycle equally well if the club would rather.
Optional Extras
Two extras earn their place on a running club card.
A punched hole means marshals at the club’s own races can wear
their card on a lanyard, which is the whole point of being a marshal — being
visible at a junction. And a QR code, square and at least 15mm,
pointing at your race calendar keeps the card short while the fixtures behind it
change.
Barcodes handle clubhouse or leisure centre
access.
Our vast range of optional extras combined with our competitive prices and fast, friendly service makes us a market leader which keeps our customers returning time after time as well as recommending us.
The majority of cards that we print have a signature strip and also a unique number which is usually sequential however you can supply an Excel document and we can print the details from the document onto the cards so each one has unique details. For example, their name, membership number, expiry date, level of membership etc.
Membership Card Specifications
760-micron solid PVC,
Full Colour (CMYK)
on both sides at no extra cost, design
sealed beneath the surface — which is why a
card left in a pocket through a wash comes out unchanged.
High gloss makes vest colours look right.
Premium matt costs the same and is marginally
easier to read in bright light.
Bureau Personalisation Service
Runners join whenever they decide to — after a parkrun, after a New Year
resolution, after a friend brings them on a Tuesday.
Our Bureau Personalisation Service means a new
member is not waiting months for a card carrying their emergency contact. We hold
your printed stock; you email their details and the card is printed and posted
within 3 working days.
Given what the reverse is for, that matters more here than in most clubs.
A Plastic Card to Approve
Ask for a printed card and hand it to somebody who has not seen it, then ask them to
read the emergency number out.
That is the actual use case — a stranger, in a hurry, reading it at arm’s
length. Almost everyone who runs this test goes up a type size afterwards, and it is
much easier to do before the run than after.
We will print one and post it to you.
Artwork Specifications & Guides
Two guide points for a running club card.
Design the reverse around the emergency contact. Decide how much
space it needs first, then fit club nights into what is left.
Design for your longest name. Variable fields print exactly what is
in the spreadsheet, so the space has to suit the worst case, not the average.
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How to Order your Membership Cards
The membership secretary, as affiliation renewals come in — convenient, since
the renewal form is where the emergency contact details come from anyway.
Send the vest artwork and an Excel file with names, affiliation numbers and emergency
contacts. Approve the proof. Cards arrive before the spring race season. We keep the
artwork for next year.
Running Clubs Membership card examples
Do you see a design that you like?
A running club card below close to your vest?
Tell us which and we will start from it.
Clubs typically keep the structure — how vest colours are used, where the
affiliation number sits, how the emergency contact is laid out — and change the
name, colours and pace-group coding. Included in the
Design Service.
Running Club Membership Card FAQs
Can running club cards confirm governing body affiliation?
Yes. The club's affiliation number and the membership year are usually printed on the front, which is exactly what race entry forms ask for at the affiliated rate.
Can cards show a member's usual pace group?
Yes. It can be printed on the card and given its own card colour at no extra cost, which saves a run leader sorting out a session by asking round the group.
Can marshals use the card as event ID?
Yes, and many clubs order a separate batch for their own race series. A 5mm punched hole lets the card hang from a lanyard so marshals stay identifiable at a junction.
What's the minimum order for running club cards?
25 cards, which suits a small club or a one-off batch of marshal cards for a single event.
Can each card carry that runner's own emergency contact?
Yes, and it is the single most worthwhile thing to do with the reverse. Supply an Excel file and every card is individually printed with its own runner's emergency contact, at no extra artwork charge.
Will the card survive being run with, and being washed?
Yes to both. They are 760-micron solid PVC with the print sealed beneath the surface, so sweat will not soften them and a washing machine cycle leaves them unchanged.
Can the card link to our race calendar?
Yes. A QR code, square and at least 15mm, can point at any page on your site, so your calendar and routes can change as often as you like without reprinting cards.
Can we print each runner's affiliation number on their own card?
Yes. That is standard variable data printing — supply the numbers in an Excel file and every card comes out of the same run carrying its own.