Meet, run, socialize.
That’s the philosophy of the Run SLO Club—a group dedicated to enjoying the sport of running in a more inclusive and connective way.
Run SLO Club Creator Natalie Rodriguez said she wanted to create an environment where anyone could join, regardless of their running ability.
“It’s a safe space, and if somebody feels like they can only run 1 mile, that’s completely OK. There’s no judgment. It’s all about just getting outside and being kind to yourself and maybe meeting a friend along the way,” she said.
Rodriguez said she created the running club in March 2024 after COVID-19 put a halt to her competitive running races with the Hoka Aggies Running Club.
“I think COVID really, like, pushed me to think about what I wanted to do, so I stopped running just cold turkey,” Rodriguez said. “I just stopped one day, and then told myself that I would start running again once it felt right.”
That right time came along in summer 2023 when she started to look at running more socially than competitively and wanted to meet more people instead of primarily focusing on a workout.
“I have some friends down in LA and San Diego that are part of run clubs,” she said, “and I remember thinking to myself, ‘That’s really weird. Why isn’t there something like that here in SLO?’”
Thus, her inspiration for Run SLO Club started coming to fruition.
“I definitely wanted to support small businesses here in SLO and I thought, what better way to do that than to start a run club, and we can meet on Wednesdays, when it might be a little slower at a business, and we can support them and the community and do it every week,” she said.
The run club meets twice per week—Wednesday evenings at a brewery like Libertine Brewing and Saturday mornings at a coffee shop like Field Day.
Rodriguez said the club has taken off. With 15 attendees for the first run in March 2024, the club has since grown to around 100 runners.
“It was quicker than I had expected, but I think everybody became excited about the fact that there was a new way to meet people,” Rodriguez said.
While the club is open to all ages, Rodriguez said most of the runners range from 25 to 40 years old. Some have lived locally for a while, and some are new to the area looking to make new friends.
“Yeah, apparently it’s a dating scene too,” she said with a laugh.
For each route Rodriguez said she uses the Strava app to map out and share with attendees. Each route is about 3 miles long and starts and ends at the brewery or coffee shop where attendees can socialize after the run.
However, she said it’s not expected of everyone to run the entire route or even run at all.
“I try to tell the group … before every run that there’s no pressure. If it’s not your day, then you know you can start walking in the middle of your run, or you can just walk the run if you want to,” she said.
Overall, Rodriguez said, she hopes to connect people through the sport of running and hopes to expand the club even more this coming year.
“With me having a running background, I know how special the sport is in terms of how it can connect you with others, and it’s such an authentic way to meet people,” she said, “and I really wanted to share that with the community as much as I could.”
This article appears in Get Outside – Winter/Spring 2025.