More than miles: How Fort Wayne run clubs are building community

Tyler Elliot wasn’t much of a runner until early 2025, when he started training for the Run Wild 5K at the Fort Wayne Zoo. When his bosses at the Fort Wayne Parks Department got wind of his plans, they came up with an interesting proposition: Would Elliott be interested in starting a run club?

Elliott, who works as a Riverfront Fort Wayne Special Events Coordinator, agreed, and now considers himself more of a runner than he’s ever been.

Due to their surging popularity in recent years, run clubs have become “the new nightclubs,” according to a recent report from Strava, a popular fitness app that many use to track their runs. Strava found a 59% increase in running club participation globally in 2024, with many participants driven to join these clubs to make social connections.

“Newer runners are less interested in competition, and instead look more at the social side of running: run clubs,” writes Raziq Rauf in his new book, This Is Running: A Celebration of the World of Running, Exploring the Culture, History, Brands, Races and People Behind It.

That social aspect is central to what Elliott launched with the support of Riverfront Fort Wayne and Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation in August 2025. Riverfront Social Run Club, which meets on Thursday evenings on the Wells Street Bridge, offers a way for people to be active while meeting others. 

“It’s more community-driven than run-driven,” Elliott says.

In the early days of Riverfront Social Run Club, only a few people showed up. But over time, those who participated began sharing this new run club opportunity with their friends. 

“It’s been a very organic growth,” Elliott says. “Eventually, some momentum built, and word-of-mouth was great.”

It also helped that Elliott had the backing of the Fort Wayne Parks Department and Riverfront Fort Wayne, which could leverage its existing social media to reach new members. 

Coffee Miles Run Club, on the other hand, started from scratch in October 2025. Founder John Nagel joined a coffee run on a recent trip to Amsterdam and realized it would be a great way to explore the city. Nagel, who works in banking, returned to Fort Wayne with a vision for a group that paired a Saturday morning group run with a visit to a local coffee shop.

“I wanted somewhere where people who don’t run very often can come and hang out and just make a friend, 
and start running, ” Nagel says.

These run clubs serve as a way for new people to get acquainted with the community, as well as helping more long-term residents get established while trying something new and active.

The focus on building community means these groups welcome different paces and running backgrounds. 

Elliott acknowledges that run clubs can be intimidating, especially for newcomers. He posts the evening’s route ahead of time on Strava, allowing participants, regardless of pace, to know what to expect. To make sure no one is left behind, less experienced runners are accompanied by more established members of the group.

“We have this ability to cater to anyone, everyone, whether you’ve been running for a week or your whole life,” Elliott says.

Run clubs also provide another avenue for connecting with people in the community organically. Nagel says he has built relationships with others in the banking industry through these morning coffee runs.

Breanna Poteat finds the social aspect of running contagious. After moving to Fort Wayne from Indianapolis last November, she started coming to these run clubs while training for the Carmel Marathon.

Poteat, a Certified Prosthetist & Orthotist, considers herself “fairly new” to running. She was used to running being a punishment as a high school athlete. Now working full time, she realized she wanted to challenge herself in different ways and stay active. Running with others has allowed her to increase her mental fortitude and achieve new training milestones.

“I love the run clubs because we can all do this together, rather than alone,” Poteat says.

She decided to start her own group, inspired by the camaraderie she found with Coffee Miles.

Happy Strides Run Club, which started meeting in May, is a women’s-only group that runs on Monday evenings. Rather than base its runs on a certain mileage, Happy Strides does a time-based out-and-back approach, which allows women of different paces to start and finish together.

Running isn’t always easy, of course – especially in the winter. Elliott recounts times last winter when he’d venture out into the cold to plan routes by himself. But come Thursday, something would change when he was accompanied by his fellow run club friends.

“Every test route I did during the winter was terrible. I had the worst time. And then you get here on Thursdays and there’s this group of people and that just makes it so easy,” Elliott says.

Elliott had wondered if the group would sustain itself during the colder months, but people kept showing up, despite the brutal conditions. Those friendships forged during the worst weather became special.

“Once you run with someone in 8-degree weather and it’s snowing on you, it’s like a weird bond…you get together, and you can go get hot cocoa over at Kilwin’s afterward,” he says.

That ethos, that difficult physical tasks are easier to endure in the company of others, resonates with Poteat.

Now, a few years in, she’s training for the upcoming Sydney Marathon and has plans for an Ironman triathlon in 2028, the latter of which she’ll do with a few other Coffee Miles members, including Nagel.

A race as intense as an Ironman suddenly feels approachable when you’re training in the company of friends. 

“Who wants to do an Ironman by themselves?” asks Nagel.

Many of these runners will be at the upcoming Fort4Fitness race in September, whether as a race participant or on the sidelines supporting and cheering on their new friends. Nagel says it’s “very rewarding” to see fellow runners compete and exceed their limits.

For Elliott, Fort4Fitness will be his first half marathon. His run club friends “have all convinced [him] to do it,” Elliott says. “It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.”

While not everyone who participates in a run club will race, for those who do, the community aspect turns an otherwise grueling physical activity into an almost party-like atmosphere.

A group of unfamiliar faces just a few months ago have now become regular running companions, providing encouragement on race day or during a normal run. 

“They’re not strangers anymore either,” Nagel says. “We’re all friends. It makes it so much easier when your friends are pushing you.”