Stop #6 in our “run every club in Chicago” series: Out There Run Club, Mondays and Wednesdays, 30 to 40 runners strong. Name tags with pronouns, a group lead who introduces herself to everyone, and other runners who actively pull new folks into conversation instead of letting them hang back.
Out There Run Club
The Meet: Mondays and Wednesdays, with a solid crew of 30 to 40 runners showing up. First thing you notice: name tags, and not just names, pronouns too. It’s a small detail that does a lot of heavy lifting. Nobody has to guess, nobody has to ask twice, and nobody gets misgendered by accident because there was no way to know.
The Route: A 3 mile out route, with a shortened version for walkers. Nobody gets stranded and nobody gets left to fend for themselves at the back.
The Pace: Genuinely inclusive, not just advertised as inclusive. Runners and walkers are both accounted for in the route planning, not squeezed into a run built for one speed.
The Vibe: This is a club that centers lesbian, trans, and non-binary runners, and you can feel the intention behind that from the first minute. The group lead makes a point of introducing herself to everyone, not just the regulars. Other runners follow that lead, pulling new folks into conversation instead of letting them hover on the edges. Lots of smiles. Genuinely friendly, not performatively friendly.
Our Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars. If you’re looking for a run club built specifically to make LGBTQIA2S+ runners feel like they belong, not just tolerated but actually centered, Out There Run Club is doing the work. And if you’re a new runner nervous about pace, the shortened walker route means you show up anyway.
Out there, and welcomed in.
