The Main Quad at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign usually stays sleepy on weekend mornings without the hustle and bustle of students walking to class. Many students are tucked away in their dorms or apartments after participating in late night activities. This year, however, Sunday mornings on the Main Quad look different.
At 10 a.m., the sidewalks fill with running shoes. You can hear the chatter and banter of more than a hundred runners. “Fight the Sunday scaries!” shouts Connor Brown through a megaphone as the runners are stretching. Brown, a sophomore, is a co-founder of Illini Run Club, a new registered student organization.
Running clubs are on the rise across the country, and U of I has decided to join the trend. Illini Run Club is in the process of getting University approval to be a registered student organization.
Ryan Miller, another co-founder and a U of I sophomore, said that the club was inspired by the Chicago Run Collective and Rawdawg Run Club based in Austin, Texas.
Illini Run Club meets once a week for a two-mile run. People split into different pace groups. The idea is to create a non-competitive and social environment. After seeing social media posts from run clubs elsewhere, Miller and Brown decided to create something similar.
“Illinois doesn’t have anything like this at all. There’s competitive run clubs, but there’s nothing that’s like a casual one,” Miller said.
Miller said that attendance has stayed consistent each week since the first run on Aug. 25. He said that the main goal of Illini Run Club is to bring people together in a social environment.
“We want people to meet people because that’s the idea at the end of this. It’s a social club masquerading itself as a run club,” Miller said.
Matt Partridge, a U of I junior and member of Illini Run Club, said the club does a good job of creating a welcoming atmosphere for people who are just starting to work out.
“I think most people are nervous and self-conscious when it comes to starting their fitness journey because you think the fitter people will judge you,” he said. “But the people you want to surround yourself with are the ones that will motivate you and want you to be there. I can assure you [Illini] Run Club is filled with those sorts of people.”
Partridge said he meets new people every time he goes to the run club and enjoys talking to people from different backgrounds.
“I probably got 10 or 15 new people to add to my network,” Partridge said. “In a 60,000-plus [student] school, it’s always good to meet someone new and expand the circle.”
Brown encourages anyone in the U of I community who may be hesitant about coming to just give it a try.
“Wake up!” Brown said. “It’s fun and you’ll be able to run. If you can walk, you can run.”
Illini Run Club meets on the Main Quad on Sundays at 10 a.m.