Driving anywhere on a Sunday morning these days is like an Olympic sport. Not only are you having to dodge potholes and waste pickers, but also hordes of neon-clad runners. Fitted up with their mirrored lenses and hydration packs, they are a sight to behold.
These packs of runners seem to be everywhere these days – not just in the middle of the road. They are at coffee shops, at bars, at the mall, in the park, at petrol stations. And if you have a quick scroll through any social media site you’ll see Strava screenshots, post-run selfies and influencers doing activewear unboxings.
Running has always been a popular form of exercise, but it is really having a moment. Stats released by Strava, the popular fitness tracking app, show there was a 59% increase in running club participation worldwide last year.
The uptick seems to stem from the reverberating impacts of the Covid pandemic, which had the world locked down indoors for months at a time. For many, outdoor exercise became the only form of social interaction available.
Although the Tyrone Harriers club in Parkview was formed in 2007, it had a “nice surge” in membership during Covid, according to member Paul Theron. “We went from about five of us, to the current ‘membership’ on our daily mailing list of 1,603.” This club is a stalwart of the Joburg running scene, with dedicated early birds taking off at the shocking hour of 5:15am. Their runs always start and end at Croft & Co, a restaurant on the corner of Tyrone Avenue.
“Our connection with Croft & Co was organic from the start,” says Chelsea Rodrigues, another member of the Harriers. As many of the founding members lived in the area, it was the spot they gravitated toward. “Over time, it’s become so much more than just a
coffee stop. It’s truly the heart of our post-run routine and a second home for many of us.”
The post-run coffee is an integral part of the run club scene. It gives runners the chance to catch up with friends and socialise, an otherwise difficult activity to fit into our busy lives. “I truly believe the rise of run clubs in the city says a lot about what people are craving right now: genuine connection, shared energy, and a real sense of community,” Rodrigues says. “In a world that can often feel fast-paced and disconnected, these clubs offer more than just a way to stay active.”
Love on the run
Haydn Corke, the man behind the Find Your Grind run club, has a much simpler explanation as to why run clubs are so popular: “They’ve exploded because they’re free dating platforms.” It’s certainly part of the appeal; people are tired of dating apps and are looking to find that spark in person, in a casual, dressed-down environment. Strava reported that 1 in 5 of their Gen Z users went on a date with someone they met via an exercise club last year.
Of course, this is not a reliable model for your club to thrive – if everyone pairs up, there might be no runners left. Corke emphasises the coffee-and-catch-up part of run clubs, not just as a source of community, but as a good business model that keeps clubs going.
The Benchwarmers Runners Club has a similar mentality, albeit at a sports bar instead of a café. Benchwarmers owner Marc Cronje, founded the club in 2023. “I started training for the Cape Town Marathon that year and didn’t really want to run alone,” he explains. “It made training more enjoyable and created a great community vibe right from the beginning.”
The club is a popular one, a fact that Cronje puts down to the free beers handed out after every run. “We went from about 10 runners a week to 100, and now we regularly see 250 to 400 people every Wednesday,” he says. A big drawcard, he adds, is that it is an activity that doesn’t require much – no fees, no special skills, but “[j]ust a willingness to show up.”
After a quick (or not so quick) 5km trot around the suburbs, runners grab seats at the bar and enjoy a midweek drink. Cronje notes that many of their runners still work from home since Covid, and find the run to be a good escape from being cooped up in their houses or apartments.
Indeed, aside from the socialising and exercising, people are taking up running for their sanity – to do something different to escape the monotony of life. Sometimes a run is the only quiet in a busy week, and its mental health benefits are well known.
As Rodrigues put it, “people are also choosing a healthier way of living – both physically and mentally”.
So, Joburgers, running is trendy, it’s connective, it’s good for you, and it is an excuse to buy a new pair of trainers. What’s not to love?
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