Are Run Clubs Really the New Dating Apps?

Short answer: Run clubs are one of the best-evidenced ways to meet new people in 2026, and some people do end up dating through them. But calling them "the new dating apps" oversells it: most people go for the running and the social life, and romance is a side effect, not the product. The trend earns its hype as a social fix, not a matchmaking one.

Scroll TikTok or Instagram for long enough and you'll see it: "I joined a run club and met my partner", "run club is the new Hinge", "Thursday 7pm run club is the only singles bar I need". It's a great story. Here's what the numbers say.

What's Actually Real Here

The run club boom is real.

• Strava's 2024 Year in Sport report found a 59% rise in running clubs on the app.
• Its 2025 report went further: running clubs grew 3.5x, hiking clubs 5.8x, and new clubs nearly quadrupled, taking Strava past one million clubs in total. The report drew on a survey of more than 30,000 users and non-users.
• In the 2024 report, 58% of Strava users surveyed said they had made new friends through a run club.
• Big-city races are more oversubscribed than ever. Fortune reports the New York City Marathon drew a record 200,000 lottery applicants in November 2025, up 22% on 2024.

Note that these are Strava's own figures, from a platform with an interest in promoting clubs, and Strava users are by definition already active people.

Dating apps really are under pressure. Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, reported 13.3 million payers in the second quarter of 2026, down 6% from 14.1 million a year earlier. Tinder's daily active users were still declining, though the 4% fall was its best result in ten quarters. Hinge is growing: revenue rose 22% year on year and monthly active users rose 13%.

Put those two trends together and the "run clubs replaced dating apps" headline almost writes itself. The data doesn't actually show one causing the other, though.

Where the Hype Outruns the Reality

Here is what the data says about romance:

• In Strava's 2024 report, one in five Gen Z users said they had been on a date with someone they met through exercise (exercise in general, not only run clubs).
• In its 2025 report, 46% of respondents liked the idea of "workout first dates", while 31% gave it a "hard pass".
• Gen Z was 39% more likely than Gen X to use fitness to meet people who share their interests.

So yes, people are dating through exercise. But one in five having been on a date with someone they met exercising is very different from run clubs being where most relationships start, and it tells you nothing about how many dates became relationships. Nearly a third of people actively don't want a workout as a first date. Meanwhile Match Group's payers fell 6% year on year, which is a decline rather than a collapse, and the company says its biggest brand's decline is narrowing, so "dating apps are dead" is not what the data shows either.

Why run clubs work (for friendship first)

Low pressure. You're side by side, not face to face. Conversation happens naturally, and a pause is just you catching your breath.

Repetition. Seeing the same faces every week is how friendships form. Dating apps give you a new stranger each time; run clubs give you a familiar group.

Built-in shared interest. You already have something to talk about, and a reason to grab coffee after.

It's often cheap. Many community run clubs are free, a big contrast with paid dating app tiers, though some charge membership.

What research says about group running and connection

None of this research is about dating, and almost none is about run clubs specifically. The best-studied cousin is parkrun, the free weekly 5km, so treat the findings as a close analogy rather than direct proof.

• Feeling included is linked to a better run. A PLOS ONE study led by Oxford researchers, described by Wadham College, analysed more than 700 survey responses from 143 parkrun participants followed over several weeks. People who felt part of the community and socialised before the event reported higher enjoyment and energy, and their 5km times were on average 3 to 12 seconds faster with no extra perceived effort. The study is correlational, so it doesn't show that socialising makes anyone faster.
• Connection builds through repetition. A 2024 qualitative study in Health Promotion International by Allison Dunne and colleagues interviewed 39 men aged 45 to 64 who took part in parkrun in Ireland. They described a welcoming environment where they could choose how social to be, from close friendships to casual "parkrun friends", and said social benefits developed through repeated attendance. Almost all of them (38 of 39) had attended more than 10 events, so it says little about how newcomers feel.
• A wider look at parkrun. A review of 15 studies (12 UK, 3 Australian), reported by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, found associations with less social isolation, depression and anxiety. One longitudinal study of about 350 people found improvements in happiness and stress over 12 months. These studies are mostly observational, so they can't prove parkrun caused the changes. This is general information, not a claim that run clubs treat any health condition.

The common thread supports the main point of this article: regular, low-pressure, in-person contact is where the benefit seems to come from. That is friendship territory first, and romance, where it happens, tends to be a by-product.

The downsides nobody posts about

• Not everyone is there to flirt. As the 31% who dislike workout dates suggests, many members want run club to stay a relaxed social space, not a pickup scene. Reading the room matters.
• Pace can divide groups. If you're much slower or faster than most, it can be isolating. Look for clubs with pace groups or "no drop" policies.
• It suits some people more than others. If running isn't your thing, forcing it for romance won't last. The underlying lesson is to find any regular, in-person group activity you enjoy.

For more on 2026's social wellness shift, see our ranking of viral lifestyle trends and our look at AI companion apps, the other side of the loneliness economy.

How to get the most from a run club

1. Go three times before judging it. The first week is always awkward.
2. Stay for the coffee. The post-run hangout is where friendships actually start.
3. Pick a club by vibe, not just location. Some are serious training groups; others are social first.
4. Let connections grow naturally. Treat it as a community, and dating becomes a possible bonus rather than an agenda.

A few common-sense habits help everyone feel comfortable. These are practical suggestions, not research findings. Take "no" and "maybe later" at face value, keep early meetups in public and with the group (coffee after the run is ideal), and tell someone where you're running if the route is new or after dark.

Questions to ask before you join: Is there a pace group or "no drop" policy? Is it free, or is there a membership fee? Is there a post-run hangout? Is there a clear code of conduct or named organisers?

FAQ

Are run clubs good for meeting people? Yes. More than half of the Strava users surveyed in 2024 (58%) said they'd made friends through a run club, and regular, shared activity is a reliable way to form friendships. Bear in mind that this is a survey of an already active population.

Do people actually date through run clubs? Some do. Strava found one in five Gen Z users had been on a date with someone they met through exercise. But most members join for fitness and friendship.

Are dating apps dying? Not dying, but under pressure. Match Group's payers fell 6% year over year in Q2 2026, while Hinge is still growing.

Do I need to be a good runner to join a run club? No. Many clubs welcome all paces, and some are explicitly beginner-friendly or "no drop", meaning nobody gets left behind.

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Hype-o-meter: Earns It

Run clubs genuinely deliver what dating apps often don't: repeated, low-pressure, real-world connection. They're not a dating app replacement for most people, and they shouldn't try to be, but as a way to build a social life in 2026, the hype is deserved.

Sources

• Strava 12th annual Year in Sport Trend Report (PR Newswire)
• Canadian Running: Strava's report shows run clubs are in, nightclubs are out
• Fortune: Gen Z is swapping dating apps for run clubs
• Match Group: Second quarter 2026 results
• Wadham College, Oxford: Social running (PLOS ONE parkrun study)
• Dunne et al., Health Promotion International (2024)
• RACGP NewsGP: Parkrun found to benefit health and wellbeing