Join one of these local active walking and running clubs around Columbia

Looking for free ways to stay active, improve your cardio, stay motivated, or just some new friends? Explore and join a local walking or running club.

Girls Who Walk Columbia group

A group picture during one of the Columbia Girls Who Walk’s walks.

Photo provided by Columbia Girls Who Walk

What do runners do when they forget something? They jog their memory, of course. Puns aside, we’re talking running today — specifically running or walking clubs. If you need a little extra motivation to kick you into gear when it comes to cardio or just looking for an active community to join, keep scrolling.

Local running/walking clubs to join

Blossom Athletics Co.
This Instagram-based run club hopes to cultivate community through running and accepts runners of all speeds. The group will meet today, Thursday, and Saturday of this week. To join and get more info, join the GroupMe.

Cola Run Club
Founded by local Emma Stoll, a Certified Personal Trainer, Cola Run Club welcomes everyone at any skill level, walkers + runners alike.

Columbia Girls Who Walk
This girls-only walking group began on Instagram in 2022 + meets weekly for two-mile walks. Join its January walking challenge, GroupMe, and follow along on the club’s Facebook page to learn more.

Columbia Running Club
Fun fact: Columbia Running Club was founded in 1968 — some would say this is a long-running local group. Get involved: Explore the Columbia Running Club Facebook group, boasting 3,000+ members + join in on an upcoming group run.

Strictly Running
Grab running shoes at Strictly Running and then register for a race to test them out. This running group makes it nearly impossible to miss a 5K or road race because it hosts so many. Fun fact: it also offers yoga every Sunday at 3 p.m.

Bonus: Thanks, Reader Dara Brown for reaching out and sharing Black Girls Run + Black Men Run Group with us.

Join the Black Girls Run private Facebook group, boasting 3.2K members, and check out its Google Calendar for weekly runs. Black Men Run Group meets on Sunday mornings at the Riverfront Park and posts a new run flyer announcement each week on our Facebook page. For information about joining in on group runs, request to join the Black Men Run Columbia Facebook group page.

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