In a city as big as New York, you need some way to find your people. And in a city as busy as New York, one of the best places to do that is while actually running.
The Big Apple’s running scene is world-renowned. It is host to one of the six “major” marathons (alongside Berlin, Boston and London), and its November 2024 marathon set a record as the largest marathon ever (until it was topped by London this year) with 55,646 runners and wheelchair racers crossing the finish line in Central Park.
As training for this year’s marathon picks up, I decided to explore the most network-friendly clubs to help you do the two things New York is known for the most: moving and talking. For casual and competitive runners alike, New York’s neighbourhoods are dotted with hundreds of running groups. The New York Road Runners club lists more than 80 running groups throughout the city’s five boroughs. Still more are organised by gyms and shoe stores. Some groups cater to locals in the neighbourhood, while others to speedsters desperate to shave a New York minute from their pace times.
Can networking while running satisfy New Yorkers’ propensity for intensity? I have been a solo runner for years, but have never run with a group here. This year, I wanted to explore the options. It all started a few days after New Year’s.
For startup junkies: Pitch and Run
Manhattan and Brooklyn
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Good for: Entrepreneurs. Runners are encouraged to pitch their business ideas to the group.
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Not so good for: While I found the group incredibly welcoming, if you don’t know the fundraising lingo, it might be hard to catch up quickly.
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FYI: The original Pitch and Run starts at 8:55 on Friday morning.
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Website: pitchand.run
For my first assignment into New York’s running scene, I jogged over to Chelsea Piers to introduce myself to a circle of two dozen runners with the entrepreneurial Pitch and Run running group.
Started in 2019, Pitch and Run invites people to promote their business ideas and get feedback from the other runners. According to its co-founder Nihal Mehta, the goal is to break free from the office and pitch in a more casual way. And if that sounds easier said than done, the group says the process really works. Pitch and Run boasts that some of its runners have raised cash for their projects from people they have met in the group. Other venture capitalists have received funding thanks to the group.
On my run, people talked about their business ventures, but no one exuded a pushy, salesman vibe. The group has no membership fee, so it shuns the exclusivity that too often pervades New York’s social scene. Run five times with the group and you are granted access to its group chat, where the conversation continues.
I had nothing to pitch — other than the premise of this article — but everyone was friendly, especially towards new runners like myself. As people gathered for the start of the run, first-timers were welcomed with an embarrassingly hearty cheer. It was early January, and so cold that discs of ice undulated in the river as waves rolled under them. Best to run fast.
The run stretched down the river just past Citigroup’s headquarters and then turned back. Afterward, people gathered for coffee — if I was raising capital, that coffee might have been my lucky break.
Mehta, who is also co-founder and general partner at Eniac Ventures, says there are Pitch and Run groups in London and Dublin. The group has other runs on different days in New York, but the original one is on Friday mornings.
For LGBT+ runners: Front Runners New York
Manhattan and Brooklyn
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Good for: Distance and speed. Runners can team up with others in the group to go all the way around Central Park, or keep it short.
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Not so good for: Introverts. It’s a big group of runners and it might feel overwhelming at first.
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FYI: The largest run meets on Wednesday evenings in Central Park
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Website: frny.org
When I arrived at the Front Runners in Central Park, about 50 male runners in this LGBTQ group were chatting, stretching and eager to get going. There was a lot of energy, especially for a particularly cold January night. And after a few group announcements, the first-timers like me were called on to introduce ourselves.
The cohort that I ran with looped up to the north edge of the park and back. This run was definitely the fastest and farthest I went for this piece. But other runners took shorter routes, and I got the sense there were different speeds so everyone could run comfortably.
Ryan Hallett, this year’s president of Front Runners, joined the group in January 2020 just before everything shut down for the Covid-19 pandemic. He told me that the group has become more than just exercise for him and other runners.
With the change of administration in Washington, “I knew there would be more of a spotlight on our community, and unfortunately more attacks,” he said. “As LGBTQ people we can’t always focus on the negative. We have to show up and literally put one foot in front of the other. If someone in the club needs something and is impacted, we will advocate for them.” He said the group has advocated for non-binary categories in running races.
Running with Front Runners is free, but Front Runners also offers a $30-a-year base membership. Membership includes coached runs and helps pay for three running coaches.
Back at the Daniel Webster Monument, the runners headed off for dinner at a nearby restaurant, a weekly tradition.
“A lot of people think of all running clubs as something for fast runners,” Hallett told me. “Something I really have stressed is we are for everyone.”
For finding a date: Lunge
Washington square park, Manhattan
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Good for: Singles. The Lunge group has successfully paired dating with running
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Not so good for: A serious workout. Like most of these social running groups, the emphasis isn’t on long distances. It’s hard to flirt on a long run
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FYI: Runs start Wednesday at 6:45pm in Washington Square Park
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Website: instagram.com/lungerunclub
They were unmistakable. Hanging out in front of Washington Square’s arch, the nearly 200 joggers perfected the stance of nonchalance that anyone who’s been to a high school dance remembers.
The Lunge running group started last year and quickly exploded in popularity. Runners who are single dress in black to signify they are open to jogging off into the sunset with a true love. Lunge’s co-founder Steve Cole encouraged me to run in black, but I was there on assignment and felt better running in colour.
We started shortly before 7pm on a chilly Wednesday in March, staggered into four groups at varying speeds, and one group of walkers. Among the runners, I noticed men and women chit-chatting as they huffed and puffed. Outright flirting seemed subdued, though if you get stuck in an awkward conversation with someone, you can literally run away.
We ran three miles down and up the West Side highway and ended at a bar under the High Line, where there was a section partitioned off for runners to mingle. Runners tell me that sometimes the night ends in karaoke, in their running sweats. They also host events like “Run & Rave” that ends with a DJ at a Brooklyn bar.
While I didn’t find true love on my jog, I found a welcoming running group that successfully breaks the mould of online dating.
For building a business: Founders Running Club
West village, Manhattan
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Good for: Easy conversation about starting and surviving in business
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Not so good for: Distance. The 5k is readily accessible for casual runners, but people looking for more distance will need to supplement their runs.
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FYI: Runs start in the West Village at 9am every Saturday.
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Website: foundersrc.com
On a cold Saturday morning, I found myself jogging alongside a business founder in customer management software, talking about running and where to live in New York. This kind of connection is exactly what the Founders Running Club wants to build.
The Founders Running Club organisation brings people together to talk about their businesses and make friends. Similar to Pitch and Run, this group emphasises its international breadth. It boasts that you can drop into runs in cities from São Paulo to Seoul. On the group chat, the group’s runners send in their pictures from Zurich and other global cities.
George Levin, a founder himself, helped start the New York chapter less than a year ago.
“I am a runner myself and I hate networking. I know it’s important, but I really hate it,” he told me.
He was interested in this club to start to solve that problem, he told me, “and then it grew into something bigger in my life — not just meeting founders but cool friends.” On his birthday recently, two of the group’s runners celebrated with him. He met them only five months ago.
Only eight people ran when I joined the group in January. But that small size made it easier to talk with each of the runners. After the run, we all met for coffee to continue the conversation.
If you travel frequently for work, it’s easy to let your exercise route lapse. But with Founders Running and its global network, you have a reason to keep your schedule and can hopefully build some business relationships along the way.
If these groups aren’t for you, here are a few more socialising and networking-based clubs in NY
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If you’re a Queens-based food lover: Adobo Social & Anti-Social Athletic Club (website, Instagram)
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If you want to find a community of other Black women to run with: Black Girls Run (website, Instagram)
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If you want in on secret runs, midnight runs and other cool races: Orchard Street Runners (website, Instagram)
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If you just moved to NY and are looking for friends: Dirty Bird Running Club (website, Instagram)
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