Run crews foster sense of community

Neighbourhood groups combat loneliness brought on by pandemic

It’s a little after 6 a.m. as Olivia Levy leaves her Bay Street condo, bundled and laced up for another early-morning winter run.

“I started off running two years ago, barely able to complete a 5K. I took up running to deal with the stress of my undergrad at U of T and live a healthier life,” she said.

Now, a six-time half-marathon runner, the 22-year-old Toronto graduate student and social media brand ambassador credits her success to run crews around the city, which provide a community for novice and intermediate runners to improve their fitness skill, build confidence and participate in charity runs.

These run crews have proven especially beneficial amid gym and fitness centre closings across the GTA due to lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The sense of community they foster helps to combat loneliness brought on by the pandemic.

“Running became a safe outlet for many to engage in fitness as well as a (physically distanced) activity,” Levy said. While larger run crews facilitated by stores such as Lululemon and Running Room have temporarily halted operations, smaller, neighbourhood clubs have been able to still continue, as have global running communities, which people can feel a part of through online initiatives.

Social apps like Strava further help to build community networks. Through the app, which was launched in 2009 as a social network for runners and cyclists, users can search for nearby run crews in their area and discover running buddies.

Levy, who used to frequent her local Barry’s fitness studio, has been active in Midnight Runners, which is a global run club powered by Reebok with a Toronto presence and has participated in virtual charity races such as the Scotiabank and SeaWheeze half marathons.

She also joined Air Up There Run Crew, a club geared toward Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) runners.

“As a Black runner myself, it was empowering to see Black bodies normalized in recreational spaces,” Levy said.

2020 brought a global reckoning on racism and police brutality, led by the Black Lives Matter movement, to the forefront.

Beyond being a safe way for people to stay active and less isolated, run clubs like Air Up There also provided a safe space for BIPOC runners.

Long-distance running in North America has a reputation for being a mostly white sport. Running USA conducts a survey annually that in the past has showed that 90 per cent of “core runners” who compete in races are white.

When 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was killed in Georgia last February, it happened while he was out for a jog in the neighbourhood. His killers say they thought Arbery, a Black man, was burglarizing homes in the area.

His death stirred conversation about the dangers that can come running as a Black person and the precautions some take as a result: avoiding affluent, white neighbourhoods and not running at night.

Following Arbery’s death, runners all over the world joined together through platforms like Strava, to run in memory of Arbery using the hashtag #IRunWithMaud. After George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, a Remembering George Floyd 8.46 mile run was also organized.

Moe Bsat, founder of Air Up There, says the communitybuilding element of groups like his is significant in these trying times. Bsat, who has been running for 13 years, says the group was built out of the need for accessible spaces for racialized runners and to amplify BIPOC voices in the running community.

“COVID has been an eye opener for running crews and runners. Runners were made aware of the inequities that exist in our unjust world and COVID made those inequities hard to miss.”

Beyond recognizing the inequities, crews like Bsat’s are working to do their part to help, he says, noting his club has a fund that aims to get winter gear to runners in need from BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. Recently, Bsat decided to cancel group runs after the Ontario government implemented the stay-at-home order in January, banning outdoor gatherings of more than five people.

“While we can’t meet and we won’t be meeting while we are in a lockdown/grey zone, I’m confident once restrictions are lifted we will have a large group excited to come back.”

“Running became a safe outlet for many to engage in fitness as well as a (physically distanced) activity.”

OLIVIA LEVY

RUNNER