Gen Z outruns the pack
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Running is lapping other sports across fitness trackers, and Gen Z is setting the pace.
Why it matters: During a loneliness crisis and remote work era, social running is one way to release stress and make new friends.
Between the lines: Young singles are also joining running clubs to find dates, the New York Times reports.
By the numbers: 84% of Strava users tell the fitness tracker company their No. 1 reason for exercising is social connection.
- Gen Z is 29% more likely than millennials to work out with another person at least some of the time.
- Also, runners are 85% more likely to log a personal record when running in a group of two or more versus a solo run.
The bottom line: Whether you're Gen Z or not, here are some groups in Portland you can run with.
3- to 4-mile runs, 6:30pm Wednesday at the FoPo Tavern
- This Foster-Powell neighborhood group has no fees and meets rain, snow or heat wave.
- Organizer Zack Wheat says the average age is mid-30s, and they use a Discord server to schedule events.
- "There's a huge social aspect, and the younger runners are looking for third spaces, that are not home and not work, to connect with other folks," he told Axios.
1.5-mile walk, 2.5 and 4.5-mile runs, 7pm Tuesday at Deadstock Coffee
- The 4.5-mile run is non-competitive.
- "I wanted to be able to talk to people and make friends," run leader Marc Ano said in a story on the website of bike maker Craft MTN.
3 and 7 miles, Thursday. For time and location see Instagram.
- Portlander Yassine Diboun, a sponsored ultramarathon runner, leads the runs in north Portland.
- "We meet at a different location and we go run together, and then we go out to eat after," he said.