Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Health & Fitness

Run clubs are the new nightclubs — Strava data shows huge rise in popularity

Running clubs are the new social hotspots allowing people to socialize and stay active.

By
Group of people running
cottonbro studio / Pexels

Having an accountability partner and someone you go running with can help you stay motivated and make you more likely to show up and get moving. Joining a run club allows you to meet new people who are also interested in health and fitness so that you can encourage and support each other. The benefits of running are abundant, from improving your heart health and bone density to burning calories and lifting your mood. Running clubs are another way to incorporate running into your workout schedule and get additional benefits. New Strava data shows a huge rise in the popularity of run clubs. It turns out that run clubs might just be the new nightclubs. Let’s look at the data and the benefits of running clubs.

The data

people group running together outside on road
Cotton Bro / Pexels

Strava is an app designed for active people. Recently, Strava released the Year In Sport: Trend Report, identifying the leading trends and surges of 2024. The report combines billions of unique activity data from the global community of over 135 million people, along with insights from a randomized, global survey of over 5,000 people.

Recommended Videos

Strava reveals that ‘run clubs are replacing nightclubs as social hotspots’ with a huge rise in run clubs and group activities. ‘Making social connections’ was a leading motivator for people to exercise, and more and more people seek social connections through working out.

The report showed:

  • A 59% increase in running club participation globally in 2024. 
  • 58% of survey respondents said they made new friends through fitness groups.
  • Nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z individuals had been on a date with someone they met through exercise.
  • Gen Z was 4 times more likely to want to meet people through working out than at the bar.
  • There was a 40% average increase in activity length when there were more than 10 people compared to working out alone. The activities were runs, bike rides, and hikes.

What are the benefits of running clubs?

people running together
Kampus Production / Pexels

Running clubs refer to running crews or groups of runners who train together for various reasons, such as motivation, developing friendships, and increasing speed. Group training runs offer a supportive environment for runners of all experience and fitness levels to stay motivated, share tips, socialize, and meet new people. If other people are expecting you to show up, that might just encourage you to lace up your running shoes and head out the door.

Related

To summarize, here are some of the benefits of joining a running club:

  • Accountability and community.
  • Structured training: Many running clubs include coached sessions with expert runners and fitness professionals.
  • Have more fun and make new friends.
  • Run in new places.
  • Run faster: You might be more likely to pick up the pace if you keep up with others.

Concluding thoughts

people running together men and women jogging outdoors outside
Cotton Bro / Pexels

You can use this tool from ‘Running in the U.S.A.’ to find run clubs in your state. It’s up to you if you’d like to join running clubs, but there are definitely worthwhile benefits to consider. You could always give it a try and see how it goes. You might have more fun, meet new friends, explore new places, run faster for longer, and get more motivated, along with all of the usual benefits of running.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Steph Green
Steph Green
Steph Green is a content writer specializing in healthcare, wellness, and nutrition. With over ten years of experience, she…
New data shows an increase in men trying yoga and pilates. What are the benefits?
From improving your strength and balance to lifting your mood, there are plenty of reasons to try these effective workout methods.
A man doing a yoga pose with a tablet in front of him in the living room.

Women are more than twice as likely to practice yoga than men, according to the CDC. While plenty of men also enjoy yoga and Pilates, there seem to be more women interested in these practices than men. That might be changing, and recently, more men are interested in exploring the benefits of yoga and Pilates. Once they start, many people love how it feels for their mental and physical health. You might find yourself doing a yoga pose and stretching and moving your muscles here, there, and everywhere because it feels so good.
Interesting new data

Recent Strava data reveals that the share of men uploading and practicing Pilates or yoga increased by 15%. Strava is an app for active people that reports data on yearly fitness trends based on surveys and data from millions of people. Let’s explore the benefits of yoga and Pilates. 
What is yoga?

Read more
Burnout is out, balance is in — Strava data shows people prioritizing rest days
With the right balance in your workout routine, you can safely achieve your fitness milestones.
Man laying on workout bench chest pressing dumbbells hat

A common motto you hear buzzing around gyms and fitness centers is ‘the more you workout, and the more often you feel the burn, the better.’ That’s not exactly true, as it’s certainly possible to push yourself to burnout, which has detrimental effects on your health and wellness and hinders your overall progress. Overworking muscle groups increases your risk of injury and doesn’t give your muscles sufficient time to rest and recover, ready to power through your next session. Strava data recently revealed that more people are prioritizing rest days and balance rather than burnout. Let’s look at the data and tips to avoid burnout so that you can optimize your fitness.
What is burnout?

According to psychology experts, burnout is a state of mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion that occurs due to repeated or prolonged stress. That stress can be physical stress on your body from overworking your muscles and working out too intensely and too frequently. Burnout can appear in other areas of life, such as burnout from work or, in this case, from overexercising. The burnout state often comes along with irritability, a negative mood or depression, and lethargy, where you find it difficult to get up and go. Some people might push themselves so hard that they start to feel ill and end up battling excessive fatigue. 

Read more
Can you burn body fat just by walking and wearing a weighted vest? New research
It might be time to put on that weighted vest and start walking in the great outdoors.
man taking break from running working out walking wearing weighted vest outdoors in city near train track

Rucking has continued to pick up steam in recent years as people search for more interesting and effective ways to get moving and burn calories. Rucking involves walking in the great outdoors wearing a weighted rucksack on your back. Research shows the benefits of rucking, from improving muscular power and oxygen intake to burning more calories and lifting your mood. Recently, researchers wanted to understand whether walking in a weighted vest could burn body fat. Let’s take a look at the study.
The study

In a recent study published in The Lancet, researchers examined how additional weights impacted fat loss and the leptin hormone. Your leptin levels are directly related to your body fat percentage. Your body releases leptin to help regulate your hunger and give you a full feeling to prevent overeating. Leptin was only discovered in 1994. Leptin resistance leads to feelings of hunger that urge you to eat more even though your body has sufficient fat stores.

Read more