Stop #7 in Operation Run with Every Run Club in Chicago
Hi, it’s Ally. If you’re just joining me, I set out to run with every single run club in this city, one week at a time, and report back on what I find. This week took me to Harrison Park in Pilsen for a group called Rave Runners Club, and I loved it.
Rave Runners Club
Here’s the premise: a weekly 5K with EDM woven all the way through it. Some weeks that’s just a great playlist keeping pace with you. Other weeks, they actually set up a DJ along the course.
What got me, though, wasn’t the music. It was the size of the group. Rave Runners Club is small, and I mean that as the highest compliment I can give. Every person there introduced themselves to me by name. Not one or two people being friendly while the rest did their own thing, everyone. Someone was always making sure I was part of the conversation, not just tolerated at the edge of it. That kind of welcome doesn’t happen by accident. Somebody built that culture on purpose, and it shows.
The run itself is accessible in a way I appreciate. Paces range from 9 to 13 minutes a mile, so nobody is left behind and nobody has to hold back. The course is a loop, and they don’t run the same park twice in a row. Every week it’s somewhere new across the city, which means you’re getting a tour of Chicago as a side effect of showing up. This week, Pilsen. Next week, who knows.
If you’re someone who gets a little lost in bigger crews, who wants to actually remember names and be remembered, Rave Runners is built for you. Same goes for anyone who loves EDM, anyone hunting for new running friends, or anyone who just wants an excuse to see a part of the city they haven’t explored yet.
Small but mighty is the right way to put it. Rave Runners Club earned its spot on the list.
