San Antonio may be seeing a running renaissance—with run clubs popping up all over the city, ranging from small groups made up of a handful of people, to massive running collectives of hundreds of joggers.
At 8 a.m. on a recent Sunday, close to 70 people began their weekly group run outside Southwest Elixirs near the Hay Street Bridge. It's a diverse gathering, including parents with kids in strollers and folks with their dogs.
There are at least two running clubs here: the Downtown Run Group and Extra Credit.
At one point, members pose for a group picture before taking off past the train tracks into the East Side.
This will be a 5K run—or about three miles. After they kick off, the Southwest Elixirs group prepares for their return.
Santiago Ortega and his wife, Madison, are owners of Southwest Elixirs. It's a wellness bar offering juices, smoothies and coffees. They host this run every week as part of their running club, Extra Credit.
"We started extra credit for the service industry, really, so that people could get, you know, a weekly peace check," said Santiago Ortega. "We realized quickly that other people in San Antonio were gravitating towards the Run Club because they also wanted to find that weekly peace of mind."
The Ortegas are San Antonio natives and wanted to create a community that promotes the importance of health and wellness.
"I wasn't educated in how important it was, and so, you know, a part of our mission was to offer products and educate people about how they can benefit their bodies and fuel their daily lives with Extra Credit," he said.
Among those running is Michael Rapp. He runs another run group named Countdown Track Club which meets Wednesday mornings at Jackson Middle School at 6:15 a.m.
Rapp is an attorney and father and he says running is crucial to his routine.
"It becomes part of your practice; it's just something that I know I need to get in the morning. I know that I'm a nicer person if I do get that in first thing," he said. "Getting some energy out to start the day, that helps me personally, so I try to make that a priority."
The run leader today is Santino Corrales. He followed on a bike to assess any needs and is one of the leaders of the Downtown Run Group, the biggest running collective in San Antonio.
"Last year, our evening meetups were averaging, around 100-to-120 people. Now we're averaging close to 300," Corrales said.
The skill levels in this club range from marathon runners to first-timers.
They meet twice a week; however, they had to temporarily suspend an evening run through Brackenridge Park due to safety concerns brought up by the city of San Antonio over the size of their group.
The compromise was to split into two start times.
"Now we're doing a six o'clock," he said. "Show up anytime between, like 6 and 7 p.m. to find your running buddies. Then get off on the route, so that way everybody's kind of spread out."
Amanda Fremin, community organizer for Fleet Feet of San Antonio, hosts a booth where runners can try on shoes and take them for a test run.
Fremin said there are many run clubs in town to give people options, depending on individual needs: "What day of the week works best for you? What time of the day works best for you? What's closer to your house? What's on your way home from work?"
She adds that people should not doubt their physical ability and uses herself as an example to illustrate why she believes people who are able, can do it.
"So I am 5'3", I'm 41 years old, and I weigh over 200 pounds, and if I can run a marathon and be a consistent runner, literally anybody can do it," she said.
It all begins with self-determination and a supportive community.
