Philadelphia’s running community is rich with a variety of groups, teams, clubs, and crews. Each is unique in what they provide for their internal collective, and that distinctiveness plays a major role in shaping the entire city’s running landscape.
We recently caught up with EarlyBirds to grab a better insight into why they are clocking miles so early, why we all need to join them, and when to add their monthly night runs to our calendars.
As shared with us by Philadelphia Runner Eric Todd, Co-Founder, EarlyBirds.
My wife (Claire) and I (Eric) started EarlyBirds in November 2022 to really showcase the running scene in and around the Philly area while building a community.
We are both passionate runners who believe in exploring and connecting with others in any way we can. We both grew up in the Philly area but after graduating physical therapy school (Drexel) we moved out to the Southwest (Texas and New Mexico). As we’ve had the opportunity to run in beautiful places near and far, we wanted to help provide a resource for those wanting to try something new or even feel more comfortable exploring their own neighborhood. So this led to the idea of starting EarlyBirds.
How it works:
We meet up at different starting locations on most Sundays (7am). We put a location in our Instagram page that provides coordinates to the starting location. We run both roads and trails, so in our Insta post for that week, we let people know if they should arrive in road or trail shoes. Runs can range anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on who shows up and which trails we will be running. All paces are welcome. After runs we will try new coffee/cafe places to connect and have fun.
To date we’ve completed over 30 unique runs (never repeating the same route) and have tried over 30 unique coffee/cafes. Our goal is to try new locations/places until we hit our 1-year anniversary where we will repeat our first route ever run together.
We really have become a family during our short existence as a run group in the Philly area and are really excited to see how it grows in years to come.
Other fun things:
Early in July 2023 we had a getaway where members in our group rented a house together and planned an adventure filled weekend.
We have also started a night run 1 time per month and people can follow us on Instagram at PHLNightOwls.
Thanks…..
Do you belong to a local club, crew, group, or team and want to see them featured? Send us an email: brodie@philadelphiarunner.com.