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Sweat, STRAVA & Situationships: Inside Gen Z's Running Club Romance

MENSXP | March 3, 2026 4:40 PM CST

Before diving into this story, I want to establish that I have never ran in my entire life and asking someone out while being drenched in sweat, completely out of breath and gasping for air is the last thing I imagine doing.

Running clubs may have picked up momentum in the West around 2024, but in India, the trend really took off by mid-2025. What began as a fitness movement that quickly turned into a social media wave, with people sharing their STRAVA stats and nudging followers to lace up their shoes.

My feed alone has been flooded with reels, showing people signing up for running groups as part of their “new year resolution,” especially across metro cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi NCR. Much of this surge seems to be driven by the Gen Z corporate crowd.

For many young professionals, it’s no longer just about building a sculpted and symmetric physique through weightlifting. There’s a visible shift toward becoming more well-rounded, the “jack of all trades” approach to fitness, and running has become the latest obsession.

After box football and turf cricket, runners’ clubs now seem to be the go-to weekend ritual for fitness-focused corporate employees. A friend of mine who runs Hillusion Run Club in Dehradun mentioned that the culture first gained serious traction in Bangalore, largely among the new-age urban crowd. But according to him, not everyone shows up purely for the miles.

“Definitely they are there for girls. Yes, I would agree that the Gen Z crowd is now more aware about fitness, but they are bored of swiping left and right on dating apps because they want to do some activities,” he said, suggesting that for some, these clubs double up as social spaces as much as fitness platforms.

Interestingly, he also claimed that some organisers deliberately include their female friends in promotional posts and initial group runs to make the club more appealing to men. At the same time, it’s not a one-sided dynamic as many women prefer joining when they see other women already part of the group, as it gives them a sense of comfort and safety.

But How Does It Actually Play Out for Women Inside These Clubs?

I talked to one of the girls who is in a runners’ club and she confirmed that she was approached by multiple guys in her DMs, who ‘appreciated her form’.

“It literally starts after a normal ‘Hey’ and then they go on to ask about a pair of good running shoes. I mean bro, cut to the chase! Then they ask if I wanted to run with him”, said the girl.

She added, “Of course all of them are fit or are trying to be and are not creepy, and the best part is, you have already broken the ice after you are trying to catch a breath and are still flirting on a run, but form is not the only thing you look for in a guy”.

The girl further said that she has been on dates with the guys from the runners’ club and some of them were actually good.

I’m not saying you can’t find love on a run; you absolutely can. But don’t join a runners’ club with the sole aim of meeting a girl or a guy. Go because you want to grow, to feel better, and to show up for yourself. When you truly love yourself, love has a way of finding you.