Running Club and Marathon Training Groups on Telegram: Stopping Bib-Resale Scams and Fake Race Links

• The scams runners see
• Rules for race season
• Organise the chat around how runners use it
• Welcome new runners without opening the floodgates
• Let a filter handle the junk
• After the big race

Running clubs use Telegram for nearly everything: Sunday long-run meeting points, track session times, carpools to races, kit swaps and a steady stream of finish-line photos. The chat is busiest around race season, which is also when scammers find it most profitable.

This piece describes a moderation setup for a running club, a parkrun-style community or a marathon training group, whether it has eighty members or eight thousand.

Disclosure: written by the developers of 虾宝 (Xiabao), a Telegram anti-ad bot. Group owners can use it for free.

§The scams runners see

Race bib resale. Popular races sell out months ahead, so “I’m injured, selling my bib” messages are common and often genuine. Scammers copy that wording, take payment and disappear. Many races also prohibit unofficial transfers, which means a buyer may be turned away even if the bib is real.

Fake registration pages. A link announces “late entries reopened” for a sold-out event and leads to a page that collects card details. It usually appears a few days after the official sell-out announcement.

Counterfeit shoes and watches. Carbon-plated racing shoes and GPS watches are expensive, and listings at a third of the retail price show up in kit-swap threads. The photos are often lifted from shop pages.

Coaching and plan sellers. Accounts offering “personalised sub-3 plans” for an upfront fee, with no track record beyond stock photos.

Post-race photo phishing. After a big race, messages claim “your official photos are ready” and ask members to log in through a link. The page steals the account instead.

§Rules for race season

1. Bib transfers follow the race’s own policy. Pin a short note: if the race offers an official transfer system, use it; if it does not, the club does not allow bib sales in the group.
2. Registration links come from the organiser. Admins post race entry links. Any “reopened” link from a member gets checked against the race’s official site before anyone clicks.
3. Kit swaps need real photos. Sellers show the item with a note carrying their username and the date. Prices far below market get a second look.
4. No paid coaching pitches without permission. Club coaches and members who coach professionally can share their details in a dedicated thread once an admin approves it.
5. Official photo services are named in the pin. Members then know which provider the race actually uses.

§Organise the chat around how runners use it

Large training groups work better with topics. A layout that works:

• Announcements (admins only): session times, race entries, club news.
• Run meetups: who is going where tomorrow morning.
• Kit swap: buying and selling, with the format above.
• Race chat: results, photos and celebrations.

Keeping kit swaps out of the general chat makes scam listings easier to spot, because they stand out against a feed that only contains trades.

§Welcome new runners without opening the floodgates

New runners join after a beginners’ course or a charity race, often in bursts. A one-line join question such as “Which session or event brought you here?” filters out bulk accounts and gives admins something to say in the welcome message. During the week before a big race, consider switching the group to join requests so a viral link does not bring in a crowd of bots.

§Let a filter handle the junk

Volunteer coaches cannot read every message during a training block, and spam bots do not wait for convenient times. A filter bot removes the routine layer: mass link drops, crypto and betting ads, adult spam and repeated copy-paste offers.

Xiabao scans incoming posts, strips out advertising and scam pitches, and escalates from a warning to removal for accounts that keep at it. Ordinary chat about pace groups, blisters and taper nerves is left alone. The Xiabao page for club and community group owners explains how to add it and which admin rights it needs; setup takes a few minutes, and the bot is free for group owners.

§After the big race

• Rotate the group invite link, because it was probably shared on social media around race day.
• Remove the late-entry and bib threads so they cannot be revived by scammers next year.
• Remind members that the race photo provider is named in the pin, and that nobody from the club will ever ask for their login.

A calm group chat makes a running club feel like a club. Newcomers ask about their first 10K, experienced runners answer, and race week stays about the running rather than about cleaning up after scammers.