Why Are People Joining Running Clubs? The New Run Club Culture

For a long time, running seemed like a fairly solitary sport: put your headphones on, start your watch, run a few kilometres and head home. Go back a little further and there weren’t even smartwatches. Anyway, this isn’t a history of running technology. Today, we’re talking about a different scene that’s becoming increasingly familiar, especially in big cities. After work or on a weekend morning, dozens of people meet at an agreed spot, go for a run together, then have coffee and a chat. Some are seriously training for races. Others are working towards their first 5K. And some, let’s be honest, are there more to meet people than to run. Running groups, often called run clubs, are no longer just places to train together. For many people, they’re becoming part of their social lives.

The numbers reflect that shift, too. According to Strava’s 2024 data, running club participation increased by 59% globally. In the same research, 58% of people who joined fitness groups said they had made new friends through them. In 2025, the number of running clubs on Strava grew to 3.5 times its previous level. So is running really the only thing bringing all these people to the same spot each week? Or is it meeting another need as well? Let’s take a closer look at this new run club culture.

Why Is Run Club Culture Growing So Quickly?

Running clubs didn’t appear out of nowhere in the last few years. Athletics clubs, race training groups and neighbourhood running communities were already around. What’s changed is why people join them. A running group used to be associated mainly with training: getting faster, preparing for a race, running intervals or improving your times. All of that still happens, but other reasons have joined the list:

• making friends,
• discovering the city in a different way,
• having a regular plan during the week,
• feeling part of a community,
• meeting new people.

In Strava’s 2024 research, 48% of respondents named social connection as one of their main reasons for joining a fitness group. Among Gen Z, that figure reached 55%. Plenty of people are no longer going to running groups just to get faster. Running is also becoming a reason to get together.

From Solo Runs to Social Runs

One of running’s biggest advantages is that you don’t need anyone else. Put your shoes on and walk out the door. You don’t have to join a team, book a court or find a partner. But for some people, that same quality becomes the hardest part. Especially as a beginner, spending 30–40 minutes running alone can start to feel boring. And when motivation is low, cancelling that day’s run is very easy.

A run club changes something small but important. Usually, your mental calendar says, “I need to run today.” Join a group and that becomes, “There’s a run on Tuesday evening.” They sound similar, but they’re different. With one, you’re only missing your own workout. With the other, you’re missing a plan you’ve made with people you know. Even that sense of commitment to others can encourage people to get moving more regularly. Strava’s 2024 data showed that runs, rides and walks in groups of more than ten people lasted 40% longer on average than solo activities.

Why Does “All Paces Welcome” Matter So Much?

One phrase you’ll often see newer running clubs use is “All Paces Welcome”. To an established runner, it might look like an ordinary slogan. But if you’re new to running and thinking about joining a club for the first time, it can mean a lot. These are the thoughts going through many people’s heads:

• “What if everyone is faster than me?”
• “What if I fall behind?”
• “What if the whole group has to wait for me?”

Those worries shouldn’t be brushed aside. When so much running content on social media revolves around fast paces, race times and expensive gear, it’s easy for a beginner to feel that they don’t belong in that world.

A good run club lowers that barrier. It can offer different pace groups, allowing beginners and experienced runners to run with the same club, on the same day and even along the same route. There’s an important detail here, though: putting “All Paces Welcome” in an Instagram bio isn’t enough. Slower runners genuinely need to be supported rather than left on their own. Experienced people leading those groups and managing the route and pace make a real difference.

How Can a Run Club Help a Beginner?

For many people starting out, the first problem is a lack of information rather than motivation:

• How many kilometres should I run?
• Can I run every day?
• How fast should I go?
• When should I enter my first race?
• Which shoes should I buy?

You can look up those answers yourself. But spending time with people who run regularly lets you pick up some things much more naturally. Of course, believing everything you hear in a running group isn’t a great idea either. Not every runner is a coach. Still, someone shows you a route you haven’t tried, someone else recommends a race, and another person notices that you’ve started too fast and suggests slowing down. You might have had no interest in racing at all, then find yourself signing up for your first 5K or 10K because of the people around you. A small but useful network of running knowledge starts to form.

Running Brings People In. Community Keeps Them Coming Back.

An Instagram post might be what gets you to a running group for the first time. Images of people running together, having fun, listening to music and taking part in events can look appealing. That’s perfectly normal. But if you’re still going to the same group three months later, it’s probably about more than curiosity.

You start seeing the same faces every week. You even notice when someone isn’t there. You sign up for races together, everyone knows which café you’ll go to afterwards, and you’re already talking about the next meet-up. At some point, running becomes part of your weekly social routine. That’s why describing run club culture as simply a fitness trend misses part of the picture. What’s growing is the habit of exercising around a community, as much as running itself. Strava’s 2025 report showed that the number of new clubs on the platform nearly quadrupled, while the total number of clubs reached one million. Running clubs specifically grew to 3.5 times their previous number.

Are Running Clubs Becoming New Social Meeting Places?

Let’s be realistic. If you live in a big city, meeting new people isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Traffic, work and everyday life take up most of your time. Colleagues often make up a large part of your social circle, too. Even when you go out together, the conversation can end up back at work. There’s nothing wrong with that, but meeting up to switch off and then talking about the office again might not be what everyone had in mind.

A run club creates a straightforward setting: the meeting point is fixed, the time is fixed, and you already share an interest. You don’t even have to think of an opening topic. A conversation that starts with “How long is this route?” can turn into a friendship a few weeks later. And with different people joining the group, your social circle doesn’t have to stay limited to the same handful of faces. We’re not suggesting that you turn up and start hitting on people. We’re talking about conversations that happen naturally, and running provides a fairly relaxed setting for them.

Where Did All the Coffee Come From?

Look closely at run club photos and you’ll notice a recurring combination:

• running shoes,
• GPS watches,
• sweaty T-shirts,
• and a considerable amount of coffee.

That’s because, for many groups, the social part really begins after the run. You can’t have a long conversation with everyone while you’re running. People move at different paces, breathing gets heavier, and the group eventually spreads out. At the finish, everyone comes back together. For many running groups, the café has become more than somewhere to buy a drink. It’s the second part of the event. Of course, nobody has to stay for coffee. You can finish your run and get on with your day. But for people who enjoy the social side, the formula really can be this simple: run 5 kilometres, have a coffee, have a chat. That’s one of the things separating newer run club culture from older groups focused purely on performance. The event doesn’t necessarily end when the run does.

Why Are Brands So Interested in Run Clubs?

A sizeable running community doesn’t stay off brands’ radar for long, and it’s easy to see why. Picture a running shoe brand doing traditional advertising. You see a photo of the new model, there’s a press launch, and an advert appears in your feed. Now picture something else: the brand organises a run for 40 people. They turn up, run together and take photos. Even if nobody gets free shoes, many participants share the event on their own social accounts, and the brand uses those posts too. The product becomes part of an experience rather than just an advert.

That’s why companies from shoe brands to sports retailers work with running communities or start their own groups. But there’s a limit. If every run becomes a product launch and every meet-up a marketing activation, the sense of community can quickly suffer. People are there to run and meet others, not to sit through advertising. For me, that’s the difference between a good brand partnership and a bad one. If the brand genuinely adds something to the community, it works. If it turns the community into a billboard, it doesn’t.

Is the Run Club Really the New Dating App?

One line has become particularly popular on social media lately: “Delete the dating app and join a run club.” There’s some humour in that, and some exaggeration. But it isn’t completely made up. In Strava’s 2024 research, around one in five Gen Z respondents said they had been on a date with someone they met while exercising. The same research found that this group preferred meeting people in a fitness setting to meeting them at a bar. The 2025 research also showed that younger users were using fitness settings to meet people with similar interests.

The logic is fairly simple. On a dating app, you see a profile, start talking and then arrange to meet. At a run club, you meet the person in a natural setting straight away. You already have something in common, and you might see the same people again over several weeks. You don’t need a “match” to say hello. Still, treating running clubs as organised dating events would miss the point. Most people are there to run, make friends or feel part of a community. Dating might be a natural outcome, but it isn’t the main purpose.

Run Club Culture Has Its Problems, Too

Every trend changes a little as it grows, and run clubs can be no different. In a group of 15, it’s fairly easy for everyone to know each other. With 150 people, things change. Pace groups need organising, safety matters more, and someone has to consider whether the route can accommodate that many runners. Being considerate towards pedestrians and other runners becomes even more important.

Then there’s the social side. Something that starts as a community can gradually become a closed circle of friends, leaving newcomers feeling left out. A group might also say “All Paces Welcome” on paper while, in practice, only suiting faster runners. So it wouldn’t be right to assume that the growth of run club culture is automatically positive in every way. Well organised, it makes running more accessible, social and enjoyable. Poorly organised, it becomes little more than a very large running group. The culture within the group helps determine the difference.

How Is Run Club Culture Developing in Türkiye?

Running groups aren’t new in Türkiye, especially in Istanbul. Communities have been organising regular runs for a long time. What has changed in recent years is mainly how these groups present themselves. Alongside the familiar running group, we now hear terms such as run club, social run, community run and shakeout run. More social formats are also becoming visible alongside groups focused on performance. Some run in the morning and have coffee afterwards. Others prepare for races together. Some form around brands or running shops, while others put socialising second and take a more serious approach to training.

The important thing is not to treat every run club as the same. If you’re thinking of joining one, look beyond how close it is to home:

• What paces does it offer?
• Is it suitable for beginners?
• Are there social activities after the run?
• Is the focus on performance or socialising?
• If it promises to welcome every pace, does it actually follow through?

Those are more useful questions. The right running club for you might not be your city’s most popular or fastest group. Sometimes it’s simply the one you want to go back to next week.

Is Run Club Culture Just a Passing Trend?

The way run clubs look on social media can certainly change. Right now, it’s coffee, running, oversized T-shirts and group photos. In a few years, a different aesthetic might take over, and brands might turn their attention to another sport. But the look isn’t what matters here. Wanting to meet people while exercising together isn’t a new need. The 59% rise in running club participation in 2024, followed by the number of running clubs on Strava growing to 3.5 times its previous level in 2025, suggests there’s more to this than a handful of viral videos. Running also has an important advantage: it doesn’t need much to bring people together.

• A meeting point.
• A route.
• A pair of running shoes.

The rest can develop over time. For years, running was seen as a way to spend some time on your own. Run club culture doesn’t take that away. It adds another option. You can run alone or with a group. You can train and head home, or stay for an hour of coffee and conversation. Maybe that’s exactly why run club culture has grown so quickly: it hasn’t changed running itself. It’s added another bit of life around it.