Are run clubs the newest food influencers on the block?

I, for one, am not a big fan of running although I am definitely fascinated by the people who are. Take my fellow resident technology journalist Tegan Jones, for instance, who when not churning out exclusive after exclusive for SmartCompany audiences, can be found hiking trails across the world and beating her personal bests. Or business journalist David Adams who received a hydration vest as a Christmas present that he wears with pride. 

Clearly, Aussies love running. And what’s better than running? Running in groups, it seems. A growing number of run clubs are popping up across the country, with runners meeting up at one spot and finishing together at a designated spot – a local cafe generally, which taps into another Aussie favourite, brunches.

These run clubs, many with their own specialty when it comes to food and drinks, like sandwiches, croissants and more, have also amassed significant followings online and turned into little pockets of influence in their local communities. 

Meet The Sandwich Run

Co-founded by three gym mates Jacob Fidler, Alesio Lanzara and Brendan Ng in November 2023, The Sandwich Run can be spotted on the social feeds of various eating establishments in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, including Black Gold, Hugo’s Deli and Saul’s Sandwiches.

L-R: Brendan Ng, Alesio Lanzara and Jacob Fidler, co-founders of The Sandwich Run. Source: Supplied.

So why sandwiches in particular? 

“We’d set out on a 30km long run during marathon training, the first time a few of us had run this distance. Afterwards, we went for a sandwich together and we concluded hitting these types of distances and keeping ourselves accountable for our races were a whole lot easier with good mates and good sandwiches. This is where the idea for The Sandwich Run was born,” the co-founders told SmartCompany. 

Building a community from the ground up proved easy, as the trio reached out to fellow gym members who also expressed interest in the idea. 

“This is when we created The Sandwich Run social media accounts so that we could share details about our upcoming runs and post videos capturing a summary of each week’s run,” they say. 

“The social media accounts have been a real catalyst for us. Since we began posting our runs, our community has expanded significantly and we now regularly have 30+ runners in attendance each week.”

Some members of The Sandwich Run outside a cafe serving sandwiches. Source: Supplied.

The unique sandwich place for each week is found through social media or community recommendations. 

“We also give consideration to any special events that sandwich stores may have. For example, we visited Hugo’s Deli in Richmond for their second birthday event and Phuoc Thanh Bakery North Richmond for Lunar New Year.”

The result? You will find loads of local cafes using the group’s social media posts to run ads for their own business. 

“We always encourage our followers to get out and visit the stores we run to. We often get followers that meet us at the sandwich shop after the run instead of running and have had members tell us that they tried a place purely because we visited,” they added.

Brisbane Girls Run Club’s “interesting foundation”

Initially created by a personal trainer with a social following to supplement her gym workouts with running, Brisbane Girls Run Club started out as a Facebook page that held group runs intermittently. The trainer’s friend Rebecca Reissis, an ardent runner, took up the mantle in September 2023 with Megan Roxburgh and “officially” started the club with regular runs on Wednesdays and Sundays. 

“Without social media, there would be no way to grow the club,” Reissis confesses. 

Members of the Brisbane Girls Run Club. Source: Supplied.

The run club regularly visits the coffee shop Drip in Newstead because “we loved their vibe and they were right where our run course started and finished”. 

“After going to Drip a few times we reached out to the owners who were so kind and generous and agreed to give us 10% off our orders. Our Kangaroo Point cafe location (The Loop Cafe) actually reached out to us offering us also 10% off so we agreed to go there.”

The response from the businesses, says Reissis, has been positive. 

“The cafes have always been welcoming and obviously are expecting us.”

She Runs Club’s exponential growth

In Sydney, the She Runs Club was founded by Millie Rowley only over a month ago. It publishes a roster for its monthly runs and walks and the locations where each such run will end.

The club, which boasts hundreds of thousands of views on its videos online, has special events planned for the upcoming International Women’s Day and recorded 140 participants on its latest ‘Sydney walk’ last Sunday. The club also has exclusive merchandise that members can get their hands on.

L-R: Millie Rowley of She Runs and the 140 members on one of the club’s walks. Source: Supplied.

Rowley says she has “always been passionate about female friendship and wanted to create a community one day to empower one another as long as I can remember”.

“I saw run clubs were on the rise recently gaining so much traction and went to a few to discover the beauty of community,” she tells SmartCompany.

The club started by visiting the AP Bakery and Paramount Coffee Project. Inspired by other run clubs that finish their runs with a treat like a pastry or a coffee, Rowley says she feels “this is the perfect way to wrap up with a catch-up and treat”.

She admits the group has received social media attention and “personal thanks from the small businesses we have visited (recently Lou Lou and AP Bakery) as our reposting of their brands has helped them in reaching new audiences”.

But Rowley, who immigrated to Australia from the UK at the age of 11, also has a deeper purpose with the club.

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“I learn of the individual stories of girls who have moved to Sydney recently and haven’t been able to find any friends or how this community has now provided them with weekly girls that they hang out with outside She Runs.

“My inbox is always full,” she adds.

An Oracle study suggests consumers are 37% more likely to believe posts shared by influencers online than a brand. If this is the case, the importance of these run clubs can hardly be overstated. While not influencers in the traditional sense of the word, these run clubs have their dedicated followings online that also materialises in the real world — a feat even not many online celebrities can achieve. 

Many of the businesses these run clubs have visited, including Black Gold in Richmond, have been running sponsored ads on social media platforms using content curated by them.

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Leor Haimes, the co-founder of Saul’s – one of the businesses visited by The Sandwich Run – says the run clubs usually come in unannounced, but after having about three such clubs visit, “we are in conversation about having some planned ones”.

The business is also planning to collaborate with these run clubs in the future and believes it is a great way to build connections within the local community.

Reissis of the Brisbane Girls Run Club also shared how cafes roster more staff on the days they visit. 

“They have put more staff on and reserved tables for us,” she says.

It seems running is no longer a solitary activity, but a community-driven exercise that is good for your health, social life, and the economy.