These Trailblazers Are Making Running More Fun for Everyone

This story is one in a series called The New Running Boom, which highlights new personalities, clubs, tech, training, and shoes that make pounding the pavement fun!

RUN CLUBS AREN’T new. One of the OG crews, the Hash House Harriers was started by a group of nine British officers in Kuala Lumpur in 1938, as a weekly run to shake off their weekend hangovers. (Their unoffical motto, “A drinking club with a running problem.”) Now there are an estimated 2000 Hash House Harrier clubs globally. But what is new is the diversity and number of running clubs that sprouted up post pandemic. More people were looking to improve their fitness—and physical health—and also to increase their social activity—and mental health. Running clubs can help you achieve both. Social media and fitness apps like Strava and Apple Fitness+ made meeting up easier and the running boom gathered speed. Now there are clubs for all kinds of runners. The guys below six of our favorite running pioneers, and they’re helping make running more fun for everyone.

Justin Williams

Unseen Run Club, San Francisco, CA

Williams founded the Unseen Run Club about two years ago after being the only one to hang back with an older Latina woman who was being left behind on a different group run…at night. “I wanted to create a safe space for people to show up as their most authentic selves and set a new standard on how we look out for one another,” he says. His group runs meet in a highly urban area—the Mission District—that’s accessible via public transport. “It’s not an obvi

ous place to run, but people can get there,” he says. The club offers bag drop and encourages hanging out afterward. “I want people to feel connected to each other,” says Williams.

TIP: “Treat running like a practice. Be prepared for early discomfort physically and maybe socially as well. But as long as you continue to show up, you’ll be begin to see progress and gain confidence—not only with your physical abilities but also socially .”

Knox Robinson

Black Roses NYC, Good Vibes Track Club

Robinson started a movement in 2013 when he founded Black Roses NYC, now a global community that merges running with urban culture. Today, he coaches clubs from LA to London, whether they’re all-women’s, Black- and brown-focused, or, as he says, “all the acronyms.” Building community have always been at the forefront for Robinson, who is opening a space in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, in the fall that he describes as a running shop, record store, Hi Fi listening space, and natural wine bar. “Running culture is the bedrock of human culture as a species,” says Robinson. “We really have to get this right so that we as a civilization or society can also get it right.”

TIP: “Run the mile you’re in”—it’s a oft used phrase coaches share when things get tough in a tough workout or a long race, but it’s also a call to awareness and the importance of staying in the moment rather than getting caught up in the false narratives and self defeating stories we create for ourselves. It’s great for training and racing but it’s also pitch perfect for new runners and folks just starting out on the journey.”

Jelly Roll

Losers Run Club

The award-winning multi-genre super star started his own run club with ultra runner Matthew Johnson last year to “help those who are traditionally underserved in the running community hold each other accountable with the end goal of changing their life through hard work and moving their body.” There’s a 12-week 5K program for beginners and intermediates.on Facebookand Strava and IRL events in Nashville. “I know how rough it was at first and how embarrassed I was to just be sucking snot in every time I walked down the driveway,” says Roll. “Y’all, I clearly walked my first 5K—’aint gonna lie.” Roll is planning to run a 5K in May and then a half-marathon later in the year.

TIP: “When a group of people comes together, it can help push you to cross that finish line. It’s possible y’all and it’s not overwhelming! You just have to start and stick to it. I feel much better that I’m training regularly now, I can think more clearly.”

Kellen Matthews

KellenRunsPhilly and Recovery Run Club

After 15 years of opioid use and while in rehab, a doctor told Matthews about the runner’s high, the natural, euphoric feeling achieved during or after a run. “That clicked for me,” says the 33-year-old, who ran a mile the next day and has since run numerous marathons and a 100-mile ultramarathon. Last March, he started a Recovery Run Club in Philadelphia, which he says is “open to anybody who’s been affected by someone who’s in any type of recovery—eating disorders, domestic violence, addiction—or just an ally to the cause.” The monthly group runs give the 50-60 participants “a space to be able to exercise and communicate with other people who have gone through something similar.”

TIP: “Start slow with just easy, bite-sized pieces and give yourself time to grow. It’s a journey, so just take your time and enjoy yourself.”

Dustin Martin

Wings of America

Founded in 1988 and based in AlbuquerqueWings of America supports American Indian youth in running, programs, says Martin, a member of the Navajo nation and the program’s executive director. Those range from introducing grade school kids to the sport to sending a cross-country team to the U.S.A Cross Country championships to sponsoring Native high schoolers to visit and spectate the Boston Marathon to coaching clinics to helping organize the annual Big Tesque Trail Run in Santa Fe, “Running is part of our cultural heritage and personal strength,” says Martin. “We do everything we can to promote that.”

TIP: “Embracing training as a path to mental and spiritual wellness—not just physical health—will yield better results all around.”

Hellah Sidibe

The Run Streak King

Sidibe has run every single day since May 15, 2017. What started as 10 minutes per day for two weeks turned into efforts like a 3,061-mile run across North America. He says he initially feared running, but slowly fell in love with running during the first week and decided to run every day for 365 days, which has turned into an eight years-and-counting quest. “I thought, ‘I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life, because I just felt good about myself. Why not do it every single day if it’s bringing you some kind of peace?” His daily posts inspire his 300K followers to run no matter the circumstances.

TIP: “Don’t do too much, too soon. “If I were like, ‘You got to try running for an hour a day or a certain amount of miles,’ I think I would have bitten off too much. I wanted to be able to do something that’s attainable, that I don’t feel scared about.”

This story originally appears in the May-June 2025 issue of Men’s Health.

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