Fitness
Should You Pick a Run Club to Make Friends or to Run Faster?
ALL BRENDAN WILSCH wanted was a slightly different running experience. The 23-year-old New Yorker has spent most of his running life hitting the pavement solo, depending on the activity as an outlet to relieve stress. After spending every outing on his own, he decided to branch out and find some company for a change to add some socialization to his workout.
That’s what led him to join the viral run group headed by Lunge, a fitness-focused dating app for which he’d seen promoted posts plastered all over social media. The group showcased hordes of people running the streets, then hitting bars en masse afterwards. To Wilsch, it seemed like a fun way to make friends.
Except the focus on the activity at hand—running—was notably lacking. Wilsch arrived early to the group on a Wednesday evening in July. The group’s organizers didn’t lead a warmup, so he made time for one on his own. At about 6:50 p.m., the sizable crowd (Wilsch thought about 800 people were there, and an NBC New York broadcast report from July claimed over 1,000 people had RSVP’d to a similar event) was greeted by the run club leaders, Lunge app founder Steven Cole and group fitness instructor Rachel Lansing (Lunge Run Club organizers did not respond to requests for comment on this story). “They welcomed everybody to run club and thanked them for being there and making Lunge turn out to be something bigger than they ever expected,” Wilsch says. “Then they spoke about the app and said, ‘If you see somebody here, and you may not have the courage to go talk to them, download the app, and maybe you’ll find them on there.'”
He found that most people in the crowd were outgoing and friendly, even if some seemed hesitant to jump right into mingling mode. After splitting the hundreds of people into a few pace groups (based on expected speed), the crowd was unleashed onto the streets of New York City. The scale of the event was staggering for Wilsch—and for many of the pedestrians the Lunge attendees overtook on the busy sidewalks. “Eight hundred people running three miles in the streets of Manhattan at seven o’clock in the evening is quite intimidating,” he recalls. “So as you would be running down the different routes, people [on the streets] would be like, ‘What is going on?’”
This is not how run clubs usually operate, whether they’re in NYC or elsewhere in the world. These groups have broken through run-centric subculture and entered the mainstream; Runner’s World notes that Running in the USA lists 968 clubs across the country, and you can find stories about run clubs everywhere from Oakland to rural Australia. Yet it was Lunge that commanded TikTok and Instagram algorithms this summer, especially as young people yearned to meet new friends IRL amidst a “loneliness epidemic.”
There’s some logic to this for outsiders looking in; the groups consist of people sweating and getting their endorphins up doing a healthy activity together. Even better (and unlike group fitness classes at boutique studios or rec sports leagues), clubs are often free to attend or only cost a monthly fee once you become a consistent member training for a specific goal, so you don’t have to worry as much about draining your bank account while simultaneously making a few friends, leveling up your V02 max, and dropping your 5K time.
Not everyone was into this new trend, especially because of what it started to morph into. Apps and groups like Lunge pushed the idea of making friends one step farther, turning run clubs into a sort of replacement for dating apps. Nearly instantly, that led to backlash from established run groups, whose members worried about the perception of what they do. Classic run clubs are about pushing past race day PRs and finding a community.
That’s not the vibe many get from the class of run club that prioritizes social interaction and engagement over the run itself. And that’s led to insider controversy, with venerable run groups like Los Angeles’ Koreatown Run Club worrying that newcomers will disrupt long-established group dynamics that focus more on training and individual progression alongside socialization. DC-based running enthusiast and Lululemon ambassador Rob Perez shared a reel discouraging people from treating their local group like a singles’ night. He made the longtime running community’s thoughts on this new trend crystal clear: “Stop making it weird,” he said.
None of this means that run clubs are only for hardcore, focused runners. You can—and should—show up with the intention to have fun and make friends. But you’ll have a better time if you understand whether the group you’re joining is more focused on keeping its gatherings loose at conversation pace for maximum socializing, or if serious training is more the mood.
Run Club Best Practices
WHETHER A RUN club prioritizes relationship-building or PR-chasing, it’ll almost always have a standard operating protocol that differs greatly from what Wilsch experienced at Lunge. There are rarely groups that large that traverse busy city streets, for one, and most will have more hands-on involvement and organization from leaders to maintain the dynamic beyond show up and jog. The run of show typically includes introductions to the coaches, pacers, and organizers and any need-to-know safety tips or other housekeeping info. Then comes an icebreaker, a warm-up, the run itself (or running workout), a cooldown, hydration, and goodbyes. In commuter cities, there’s also potentially a bag check.
Once runners hit the streets (and even in parks or on public tracks), they shouldn’t just go out in a huge group. There are cars, cyclists, and pedestrians who are on the roads too, and club members will inevitably wind up going at different paces. That’s why many run groups include two kinds of leaders guiding you through the run: pacers and sweepers. Pacers set the tone and time for the group or the smaller groups that break out according to their expected speed. Smaller groups might only have one, while large runs might have multiple per group. There should also be someone keeping up the end of the group to make sure no one is left behind or lost if the run is taking place on public roads (typically known as sweepers)—they’ll finish up the workout with the last runner through the end of the course, often with the encouragement of the rest of the group.
Every run group, whether social-focused or PR-driven, should have structure and safety guidelines (like pacers and sweepers). But run group social dynamics exist on a much more vast spectrum. Some, like Brooklyn Track Club in NYC, are great for prepping runners for races. Others, like Martinus Evans’ Slow AF Run Club, focus on inclusivity. Some even affiliate with major brands to allow members to test new gear. In any scenario, bonds are eventually formed by routine and the time spent sharing the experience. It’s a community, and the social dynamics of one persist. Some people like Amir Gamble, a 33-year-old in New York who has been running in the club scene since 2022, join multiple groups. He consistently attends two different runs depending on what he’s looking for—a few miles at a conversational pace to socialize, or focused training and track workouts. He says the groups he’s enjoyed most have established leadership and a welcoming environment, not necessarily the fastest people on the streets.
Most of Gamble’s run sessions are much smaller than Lunge’s massive crowd of nearly 1,000 people. “That’s nearly as many as the race I just did!” he exclaimed, referring to this August’s Brooklyn Mile road race. No matter the organizers’ intentions, he worried about how anyone could safely run on busy city streets and sidewalks in such a large group.
Nearly as pertinent an issue, given Lunge’s stated mission to bring people together, is how hard it actually is to get to no anyone when a run includes hundreds of people. Many run groups count 25 runners max at a normal session, so the workout can start with everyone introducing themselves and participating in an icebreaker activity; it all takes about 15 minutes. When the group swells, that portion of the run requires more time, infringing on the run and your chances at knowing who you’re keeping up with on the road. Expecting an immediate connection is like expecting that you’ll set a 10k record the first time you lace up your shoes. Friendships take work.
“Some people chat a little bit after but, usually within 10 or 15 minutes the group kind of dissipates,” Gamble says of his run groups’ social dynamics. “Maybe you go with people to have pizza after or maybe some might go have drinks after, but usually it’s during the work week. Most people are like, ‘Alright, cool. That was good, see you later.’”
Which Type of Run Club Is Best for Your Goals
NOT ALL RUN clubs need to be filled with super-serious athletes aiming to break PRs, but there should be some standards to look for if you want to join one yourself. Giving and receiving support throughout a workout is a large part of run club culture. If you arrive at a run club with vastly different goals from the rest of the participants, though, your fellow members may not be well-suited to provide the encouragement you need to battle through a tough session. Mismatched energy could mean you won’t be invited to sign up for races or to hangouts outside the group, too.
“I think people show up to [run] groups primarily because they want to be better,” says Jessie Zapotechne, a performance running coach who is head of adidas’s U.S. running communities and founder of women’s-only group Girls Run NYC. “Being in a group can help you push yourself more, learn more, maybe go further, and it can be a space to make friends and potentially meet other like-minded people.”
There are some baseline expectations you should have if you attend a run club. Firstly, the group should center your safety and give you some info about what it takes to be a better runner, according to Zapotechne. “Are they providing electrolytes? Are they helping runners understand what to consider when running in the heat? Or, the safety and etiquette of running in the street in a large group? You run two across [on the street] versus 10,” she rattles off. Even groups without brand partnerships or financial resources should be providing basic running best practice information to their community.
You’ll also want to be mindful of leadership, since you’ll be trusting the coaches with your time and your safety. There are run clubs that are just small groups of friends getting together for a jog and social hour every week without a clear hierarchy—but once the group starts to include people who want to run at different speeds and tackle different goals, it becomes critical that someone takes charge and leads. Ideally, these people have extensive experience with run training and are also actively participating in the run community and culture of the area. Importantly, leaders should also make efforts to establish a safe and inclusive environment within their club. “I think a green flag when it comes to co-ed running groups is when you see both male and female leadership,” Zapotechne says.
Beyond road safety, and with the rise of run club culture via social media in particular, Zapotechne points out the importance of acknowledging boundaries among members. “I did a lot of workshops and training with my staff around what was appropriate and not appropriate, and we had to have (sometimes many) conversations around boundaries when it comes to interactions [with club attendees],” she notes. This includes more obvious things like physically touching, like hugging after runs or unsolicited help with stretching, and murkier territory like when it’s inappropriate to send DMs and texts. You should know that if you join a run club and immediately start receiving unsolicited messages—especially from those in charge—something is off. “If you’re in a leadership position, you don’t slide in the DMs of people that are showing up to your group. That could be a pacer, crew runner, captain or coach. You’re not there to date the people who come to your running group,” she says.
Given the recent trends online, she also believes that groups should be explicit about what their objective is for potential members. A good way to ID a run club that is more focused on sport and movement is to check out the way they communicate their training plans on social media. Do they use terminology like intervals, fartleks, and shakeouts for different gatherings? Conversely, a run club that’s more social-focused will likely share info about short routes without mentioning pace groups, offer walking options, and highlight where the meetup after the workout will be held.
There will be some overlap between those two types of groups, to be clear. Even if you’re laser-focused on running faster, you’ll wind up meeting new people. “I think a lot of the newer clubs get people together, like come out and run and then drink beer after, which is fun,” Zapotechne says. “Maybe it’s an entry point.” The best groups will be a mixture of both types of approach; welcoming for beginners and socialization, with encouragement for members’ development as both runners and people via their community.
Wilsch isn’t done with run clubs after his first experience—he’s actually branching out. A fellow runner he spoke with at Lunge referred him to another group he’s planning to check out, this one more dedicated to training and closer to his own neighborhood.
If racing a marathon is your goal, you can find a group that can get you ready for 26.2 by prioritizing focused workouts. But if you’re just looking to get out of the house, get your heart rate up, and make some new friends, you can find a space for that, too. The key: Know all this before you head to your local run club can save you trouble in the long run (pun very much intended).
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