A new trend is emerging in the running world, where Black-led running collectives are redefining the concept of “runcations” by traveling abroad and exploring new destinations. This shift is driven by Gen Z’s enthusiasm for fitness communities and the growing willingness of Black-led running crews to take their relationships abroad.
Black Run Clubs Are Becoming Travel Communities
Groups such as District Running Collective in Washington, D.C., Harlem Run in New York, and Mad Miles Run Club in Charlotte have been building communities around wellness, music, and connection through regular city runs. Mad Miles, founded by Cornell Jones in 2019, has grown from fewer than 10 participants to large weekly crowds, with gatherings that include runners and walkers, music, personal announcements, and line dancing.
In 2024, members of Mad Miles joined Views Weekend in Cartagena, Colombia for a group run, taking their community ritual international. Similarly, Harlem Run members have embarked on adventures such as an eight-day journey up Mount Kilimanjaro, combining endurance, collective support, and African travel.
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East Africa And Colombia Move Running Beyond The Race Course
East Africa, particularly Kenya, offers a unique draw for running enthusiasts, with its natural scenery, agriculture, and regional culture. The Heritage Trails Expedition and Barngetuny Run, organized by the Kenya Tourism Board with Athletics Kenya, combines hiking, cycling, farm tours, cultural visits, and tea and coffee tastings across five counties.
Colombia provides a different route into this travel style, with Cartagena’s cultural pull and the country’s mountain regions adding serious trail mileage. Routes around Minca pass coffee farms, waterfalls, and viewpoints across the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
For younger runners, the appeal of these trips is easy to understand: the people who get you through a Tuesday-night run are often the same people you want beside you when the trail gets steep in another country. Strava recorded a 59% rise in global running-club participation in 2024, while 58% of survey respondents said they had made friends through fitness groups.
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Benefits of Running Crews Going Abroad
When a running crew takes its weekly ritual abroad, every stop on the itinerary determines where the trip’s money goes. Paying coffee growers to host tours and tastings recognizes the expertise behind the cup served at breakfast, while working with established community organizations allows local leaders to decide what support would be useful.
Black-led running clubs have spent years creating spaces where people feel welcomed, encouraged, and seen, so those same considerations naturally belong in the trip planning. Organizers should consider who leads the run, who explains the land, which businesses host the group, and who benefits after everyone flies home. The miles may get people on the plane, but the trip gains its depth from the farmers, coaches, guides, and communities who make the route worth traveling in the first place.
In the end, it’s not just about the running, but about the people and the places that make the experience worthwhile.