How run clubs are getting the city moving

On a weekend around 5:30 a.m., the Elliot’s Promenade is one of the most active neighbourhoods in the city, with clusters of people from different run clubs turning up for their mornings runs.

If you think back a couple of years, you would not have seen as many run clubs as there are now in 2026.

“From 18-year-olds to 40-year-olds, people across demographics attend our run club that is entirely free. There is a difference between running alone and running with people. When running with people, it pushes you to do more,” says Sathish Ashwin, who founded the Vamos Run Club in June 2025, along with Keerthana Rajendran and Santhosh Gunasekaran.

He says he has always been into fitness since childhood and wanted to bring an accessible fitness community to Chennai.

“Many women who had never run before started showing up regularly every weekend. They are winning marathons and competing in obstacle course races, too,” adds Mr. Ashwin, who says roughly a hundred people show up for their runs.

At 5 a.m. on Saturdays, Nungambakkam Nitros, affiliated to Chennai Runners, is in the midst of clocking their kilometres. Sanjit Singh, who attends this run club, says he learnt the correct technique of running because of the community.

“We all have different goals; some of us train for marathons whereas others try to build a routine or outdo themselves,” he says, adding that the motivation and support he gets from the running community is an experience he would never get while running alone.

“While the majority are in their 20s to 40s, we also have veteran runners over 50. We have a Chapter Co-ordinator who tell us the running plan for the day,” adds Mr. Singh. He says the main reason he enjoys running with the group is because of the community as well as to get updates on running events around the city.

This run club does long-distance, slow-paced runs, and sometimes quick sprints at certain intervals while running. Nevertheless, every runner gets to run at their own pace.

Voko Run Club, founded by S. Kavin Bharathi and Y. Vedhanthan, has most of the Gen Z members.

Meanwhile, the run club in Chennai that has most of the Gen Z members is the Voko Run Club, founded by S. Kavin Bharathi and Y. Vedhanthan, who are students themselves.

Apart from the run every weekend, which is the foundation of the club, they also conduct picnics, run-and-paint sessions and run-and-karaoke sessions. “We mostly have 18 to 23-year-olds joining the run club — though there is no age limit — with 100 to 150 people showing up. We have now taken up a 10-day run challenge: to run five km every day at Chetpet Eco Park,” he adds, commenting on how he has seen run clubs in many cities but Chennai did not have many last year.

“We don’t do hardcore running, which is why it is open to everyone. Even if people showed up to our run club just for the sake of making connections and new friends, they are moving at the end of the day by waking at 5 a.m. to run by the beach, which itself is breaking a barrier,” adds Mr. Bharathi.