"Better together": How one Miami run club prioritizes inclusivity
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The Herd before its run during the lululemon summer series. Photo: VACO Studio.
If you're anywhere online, you may have seen some version of a video pointing out the following: If you were born in the 90s, you're either getting married and having kids, or training for a half-marathon.
- Well, I signed up for the Miami Half Marathon yesterday.
But we're not here to talk about my love life — or lack thereof (shoutout Miami!).
- We're here to talk about The Herd, the run club I joined in May that's since become integral to my routine and one reason I signed up for the race. (My friend Ella is the other.)
Why it matters: Run clubs have boomed in recent years — a trend many attribute to people turning to the sport during the pandemic and younger generations using them to make friends or find a partner.
Case in point: "In the beginning it was just our friends, mostly creatives," Herd leader Ivan Lanz told me. "We wanted to give them… an opportunity to catch up with friends and others in the industry."
- Now, Lanz, a photographer, describes it as a community — a place where each week people create friendships and "do this hard thing together."
- Nearly six months after its founding, weekly runs average around 40 people.
The big picture: The number of clubs in Miami is expansive.
- Lululemon also has a season-long Summer Series bridging 11 clubs from Miami-Dade and Broward and encouraging runners to visit new clubs. There's still a few runs left.
Between the lines: Lanz founded The Herd alongside Nicolas Vasquez and Kevin Arrieta, the duo behind Little Haiti's VACO Studio. (The partnership enables the club to have a meeting space and sponsorships.)
- The name is a spin off the studio's name, a play on "vaca," the Spanish word for cow.
- For Arrieta, it mirrors the studio's philosophy of "better together:" A herd of people moving together as a unit, embodying the values of camaraderie.
- The group's motto, "A Place for Every Pace," emphasizes inclusivity. The group welcomes first-timers, slower paces and paraplegic athletes.
From its inception, The Herd partnered with siblings Ben and Giuliana Kunzle from Push On Foundation, a nonprofit supporting those with spinal cord injuries to maintain active lifestyles.
- For Lanz, the Herd's inclusionary environment — from creating a wheelchair-friendly route to attracting a diverse group of runners — sets it apart from others.
What they're saying: "When you hear 'run club,' you immediately think 'another one,' but what VACO and Ivan have created is a community. Everyone is welcomed with the same warmth," member Sara Galvis told me.
- Angela Blizzard joined the group after recovering from an ankle injury. The Herd changed her relationship to running.
- "I'm having more fun, [and] I've made so many friends," she said. "It feels a lot more like a family than just a group of people I run with."
My thought bubble: I joined The Herd hoping to run regularly again and meet cool people in Miami. (I reject the idea that people join run clubs only looking for romantic partners!)
- Now, it's more than a weekly run. It's something I look forward to, not only because my pace has already improved, but because it's a fun weekday activity where I've fostered new friendships.
If you go: Runners meet Thursdays at 7pm at The HUB Miami. The 5k run — led by three pace groups — begins at 7:30pm after a group warmup.
- The route heads east toward Biscayne Boulevard, then alongside Morningside Park before turning back along the same path.
One more thing: Before each run, Lanz or others will call out, "Can I get a herd?" Be prepared to yell back with an excited "HERRRRD!"