• How running clubs replaced dating apps

    From Primum Sapienti@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 26 23:21:13 2024
    https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/running-clubs-dating-apps-meet-cute-b2548844.html

    Hayley wasn’t looking for love when she
    joined her local running club. “It was
    just something I enjoyed doing every
    weekend,” the 30-year-old marketing
    assistant explains. But then she met a
    man – let’s call him Rob. “We were
    friends at first and things progressed
    from there; he asked me out after a
    couple of months.” That was three years
    ago. Fast forward and there’s no sign of
    things slowing down; the couple live
    together in north London and regularly
    run alongside one another all over the
    world.
    ...
    It’s not hard to see the appeal,
    particularly for those who’ve long given
    up on the maddening charade that is
    online dating. And so perhaps it’s not
    surprising that Hayley is far from the
    only person to have met someone through
    a running club. “We hit it off
    immediately,” says Sarah Jane Clark, 53,
    of her partner, Paul, whom she met
    through her running club’s social media
    channels during the pandemic. “I really
    missed my running club and, because of
    lockdown, I was running by myself. Paul
    and I entered some of the same virtual
    events and encouraged each other. Fast
    forward to September 2021 and we had
    arranged to meet up at the Sheffield
    Half Marathon.” They tied the knot last
    autumn.

    It’s not just happening in the UK, either.
    Just have a look on social media, where
    you’ll find thousands of running clubs
    all over the world – plenty of which have
    acted as inadvertent matchmaking services.
    ...

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