National trends suggest that growing numbers of people are ditching the conventional club, with its late nights and bright lights, in favor of a new one: the run club.
Here in Maine, running organizers are seeing both an increase in running clubs as well as higher attendance among young people.
Mari Barlow, co-founder of Portland run club Runaways, said that when she began organizing the club in 2017, there were only a couple free running clubs in the area. Now, she said, there are roughly 15.
“You could run with a different group every day of the week if you chose to,” she said.
Runaways has grown into one of the city’s largest groups, according to Barlow. It offers a variety of running events, from a weekly trail race series to group runs and pub runs, where attendees run together before mingling at a pre-selected local brewery. Barlow takes time to share race and volunteer opportunities and highlights attendees' recent races and successes.
At one pub run, hosted by Oxbow Brewing Co. in July, about 40 runners braved the impending heat wave to exercise with others. Many jumped at the chance to incorporate a swim into the event, stopping at Portland’s East End Beach for a dip mid-run.
“Runaways has just sort of organically grown,” Barlow said. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that people have met their best friends, lifelong friends [at Runaways].”
Several of the attendees had recently moved to Maine and said they saw run clubs as a way to engage with their new environment. Steven Hyland, originally from California, is one of them.
“Run clubs are sort of the new thing to become social [in] a new environment, and I also like beer, so I kind of combined a both healthy hobby, a chance to socialize with other like-minded people, and enjoy[ing] some brews while I’m at it,” he said.
In 2025, fitness app Strava reported an increase in the number of Generation Z users, who it says are “logging off and lacing up.” People ages 20-29 are driving higher numbers of race participation, according to Road Runners Club of America.
Chandra Leister works as a race organizer in the greater Portland area and serves as a board member at Maine Track Club. She noted the ability of a shared activity to form new relationships — something Gen Z runners often say they admire about the sport.
“There’s a lot of people that move to new cities and don’t know anybody, and joining a running group is a fantastic way to get to know people,” she said. “You can find your pace, you can see the same people week after week and have a safe thing to talk about while the conversations and the running become more.”
Anne Sharp, of South Portland, has been coming to Runaways events for over a year. She said the Wednesday night pub runs have been “one of [her] favorite nights of the week.”
“[Runaways] self-selects people I have a lot of interests in common with, and I have found it to be one of the best ways to meet people in town,” she said. She said it fills a gap for young people who may feel that “there are not as many settings that are low-key, drop-in, drop-out, [to] get to know people over time.”
It remains unclear whether this running boom will endure, but for now, Mainers of all ages are enjoying time outside on the trail, track or road, and creating a community while they’re at it.