All across major cities in the United States, running clubs, or run clubs for short, have become extremely popular as a way for people to become more active in an era of increased idleness. The spark in run club participation and the foundation of more clubs has risen 25% in the past 5 years, according to the Offfield Journal.
Over the years, run clubs have expanded to more rural towns and cities, causing students in the running community to create local running clubs, which eventually led to recognition by the university.
The GCSU-sponsored running club “The Prowlers” meets in front of Atkinson Hall and runs anywhere from one and a half to three miles. Further information can be found on their Instagram page @gcprowlers.
One of the major benefits of a run club is its regimented structure. Many larger run clubs will separate into different pace groups, offering those who run slower to not feel the need to keep up, and letting those who run faster not feel weighed down. Here, the structure of the run club offers more security to all people with different paces.
Among those who run with friends, experience in running can drastically determine how you exert yourself, with many runners wanting to be around people who generally run at the same speed as themselves. However, there can be benefits with running among those who are slightly faster, as it could allow you to become more motivated to keep up with their pace.
Montana Arnold, a sophomore Spanish and political science double major, considered whether running with others encourages her to keep up, or discourages her from running altogether.
“I think it can do both things,” Arnold said. “When I’m running with good friends that I know well and can engage in friendly competition with, then yes, totally, 100%. When you have someone right there with you, it definitely helps to keep your pace. But if I’m ever with a guy who has like a 6-minute mile, it would definitely be a lot more discouraging.”
It seems a lot of students enjoy the friendly competition in running with friends. When considering joining a run club you should also look forward to the relationships you can make that can make you more motivated to increase your speed and become a better runner.
Anna Cruickshank, a sophomore marketing major, has opinions on how running with others increases her motivation to keep up.
“I think it would motivate me,” Cruickshank said. “I have run with other people and it makes me run faster just because I have to keep up.”
GCSU students in the running community seem to agree that overall, running with others typically has a positive effect on their own pace. This is recognized as the main reason that people participate in run clubs.
Among reasons like an increase in motivation, many in the running community join run clubs because they offer more security, social interaction, and exploration.
The exploration aspect of a run club allows those who join to discover many different parts of Milledgeville that they might have never seen before. GCSU students recognize the pros and cons of running in Milledgeville and have differing opinions on whether the city is a good place to run or not.
“Yeah it’s very hilly, but I like it,” Cruickshank said. “I really like the Greenway. I also like downtown because it’s much more flat.”
Some areas of Milledgeville have many hills, which can act as a daunting challenge for many runners. The challenge of the city’s environment seems to drive some away from joining the prowlers. However, for many students, the safety of the city is also a factor when considering joining the clubs.
“No, I don’t really like it,” Arnold said. “There are a lot of hills and stop signs and cars. However, I would say that it is somewhere I feel safe to run in if I’m running around/near the college.”
Overall, it seems students can go both ways about the difficulty of Milledgeville roads, however, the safety of the city seems to be a primary concern. Even though Milledgeville can be an intimidating environment to run in, it does not discourage those who wish to run locally, and it can prove to be an extremely rewarding challenge.
