Seeing New York for Your Health: 8 Best Running Groups in the City

One of the best ways to explore New York is to walk around it. And while many travelers enjoy hiking and walking, there is another great option – jogging groups. The New York running community is represented in all five boroughs. Clubs across the city are inviting guests and interested locals to join them for a run overlooking the city. NYC Go.

Here is a list of running groups to help you see the city and keep fit.

badass lady gang

• Brooklyn Running Company, 480 Bergen St., Park Slope, Brooklyn, Tuesdays at 18:00 pm

If you want to work up your speed and run through Brooklyn's famous Prospect Park, join the Badass Lady Gang for an evening workout. You'll meet at the Brooklyn Running Company in Park Slope, then head to Grand Army Plaza - the busy entrance to Prospect Park - and run half a mile to a mile at a brisk pace.

Front Runners New York

• Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Tuesdays at 19:00 pm (Second Tuesday of the month at Pier 6 of the Brooklyn Bridge);
• Central Park, Manhattan, Wednesdays at 19:00 pm and Saturdays at 10 am.

Front Runners New York is a running club and multi-sport group that was founded for LGBT people. But you don't have to be part of a community to run with them.

Runs are free for everyone. The membership also offers cycling, swimming and track training.

Run for Chinatown

• 69 Mulberry St., Chinatown, Manhattan, Mondays at 18:30 pm (starts at 19:00 pm)

In 2020, Chef Leland Yu hosted two New York City Runs in just one day, covering 61 miles and raising $25 each time. The funds were used to purchase 000 meals from Chinatown restaurants for critical workers during the COVID-2 pandemic.

Since then, this initiative has grown into a tradition and a running club. Group runs begin and end in Chinatown and run 3-4 miles (5-6,5 km) at an easy pace. You will have the opportunity to stop at picturesque places along the route and, perhaps, even share a meal in one of the Chinatown restaurants after your run.

Run Hustle Run

• The Hustle Barbershop, Kew Gardens, Queens, Sundays at 7am and Tuesdays at 19pm;
• Victory Field, Forest Park Track, Queens, Thursdays at 6:30 am.

Run Hustle Run started in 2016 when Charlie Mercado, a Queens native and owner of Hustle Barbershop, sponsored one of his clients in an attempt to run the New York City Marathon. But it was only on a cold February night in 2018 that the group began to meet weekly.

What started with just three participants eventually turned into a constant group run several times a week.

Soca Run Club and Festival

• Meeting point varies, Mondays and Tuesdays at 18:30

After completing the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon in 2017, Troy Johnson wondered how he could combine the two things he loves - Caribbean culture and running. Thus was born the Soca Run festival - a 5 km race interspersed with Caribbean carnival culture. The club regularly hosts two weekly meetings that end at local black-owned businesses.

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Team Wepa

• Astoria Track, Queens, Tuesdays at 19:00 pm;
• Queens Bully, 113-30 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, Queens, Thursdays at 18:45 pm.

Head to Queens to run with Team Wepa, an energetic team with the motto We Do It for Queens. The founder of the team, Gee Rodriguez, created this group in 2016 to give local runners the opportunity to run close to home.

Team We Run Kings

• Boys & Girls High School Track, Bed Stui, Brooklyn, Mondays at 7am;
• Central Park Reservoir, Manhattan, Tuesdays at 6:30 am (7 am in winter);
• Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Tuesdays at 18:15 pm (mid-April to mid-November);
• Brooklyn Circus, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, Thursdays at 18:15 pm and Saturdays at 18:30 pm (19:30 pm in winter);
• Armory Track, Washington Heights, Manhattan, Tuesdays at 18:45 pm (mid-November to mid-April).

TeamWRK started out like many other running groups, with a small group of friends training together for a race. It now has over 150 members who run races all over the world.

The cost of one training session is $25.

We Run Uptown

• Locksmith Bar, Washington Heights, Manhattan, Mondays at 19:15 pm;
• The Chophouse, Inwood, Manhattan, Wednesdays at 19:00 pm.

In 2013, when Hector Espinal started running in his Washington Heights neighborhood to lose weight, he crossed paths with Josh Mock. The two later teamed up to create We Run Uptown, which co-founder and Captain Mock calls "a safe space for all people of all fitness levels to just run three miles together."