Berlin is a great city for running: it’s flat, full of green spaces, and boasts 82 parks and dozens of annual running events. It has one of the most important marathons in the world, with around 50,000 runners passing through the Brandenburg Gate each fall; this year is its 50th anniversary. The city has long had a dedicated community of runners, but in the last few years, the number of clubs and crews has exploded.
It’s not only Berlin that’s hit the ground running – thousands across the globe took up the hobby during the pandemic. It’s also not just running: people are increasingly looking for offline community and connection. Book clubs are booming. Chess and board games are making a comeback in bars. Dating apps are dying – and The New York Times recently proclaimed running clubs “the best alternative”.
As more running groups pop up around Berlin, it’s clear there’s something for nearly everyone – a sole mate for everyone from casual hobby jogger to ultramarathoner. Are you looking to run up a mountain (or what passes for one in Berlin)? Want to run and then – like a true Berliner – rave? Brunch run, bestie? Coffee run? Run the Ringbahn? Run with a diverse group, a queer-friendly group, a hardcore group? Train for a marathon, take to the streets, hit the park or the track – once you start you don’t go back. Berlin’s clubs are serious, they’re friendly, they’re safe spaces, they’re attracting corporate sponsorship – and there are more and more of them. In the face of all this abundance, which crew is for you? Let’s run through it.
Running Like The Wind
On a Tuesday evening in July at a Sportanlage near the banks of the Landwehr Canal, about 30 runners discarded their jackets and pants to reveal snugly-fitting Spandex. They took to the track to warm up, performing high-legged horse-like trots and musical theatre-esque kicklines with the utmost seriousness.
The runners were part of DNA, aka Dedication and Attitude, a running collective about to hit its second full year of operation. It’s a new part of a long-running network of Berlin running groups that cater to more serious runners — somewhere in between hobby joggers and Olympic qualifiers.
DNA participants spent the next hour relay-racing with their teammates, notching laps as rapidly as they could before collapsing together on the track’s synthetic rubber in a variety of positions: hunched over, elbows-on-knees; sprawled out, hands behind the head or arms outstretched, snowflake-style. Pushing yourself to such extremes is easier with company, the thinking goes.
“I always felt that running was a hermit sport,” DNA member Daphne Vasco says. “Something that you do to disconnect. And now I see it as a place of connection.” Vasco is in three different running groups in Berlin but comes to DNA when she wants to focus on training for the Berlin marathon.
DNA meets for a track session on Tuesdays, and often a social run on Thursdays and a longer two-hour run on Sundays. Runners are led in workouts by their peers: Katarina Yepez, a former US collegiate steeplechaser (for the uninitiated, that race entails three kilometres with hurdles and seven leaps over a pit of water), and Hauke Renken, a German marathoner with a two-hour 40-minute PB under his elastic waistband. While countless clubs exist for Berlin runners to combine running with more social or casual motivations, these skill-minded clubs typically put a higher premium on speed and coaching. Some even require rigorous tryouts, compete in meets around the world and earn flashy brand sponsorships.
The Berlin Braves are one such club, where – for a monthly membership fee – runners receive expert training from a Nike coach. Right now, memberships are closed so that group members can focus on their 12-week marathon training plan, which also includes track and strength sessions.
“What I love about what I get from running in a group is that I push myself so much harder, and I learn so much more, and I ultimately end up a much better runner, compared to if I’m trying to do it alone,” Claudia Gillies, who joined in 2018, says.
I push myself so much harder, and I learn so much more, and I ultimately end up a much better runner.
The Braves are a known entity around the city — they even once had a dedicated, albeit small, Instagram fan page. They’re “one of the OG crews worldwide”, founder Joey Elgersma says. “I don’t think we attract the Joe Average, the regular runner. Therefore, it’s also not the most mainstream club. There’s enough runners in Germany or Berlin and the beautiful thing is that most of them can find a place that fits them and their personality.”
With elite status comes brand sponsorships; in addition to Nike, the group also partners with sunglasses brand Oakley and buzzy hat company Ciele, which designed a bespoke 10-year anniversary cap for the Braves.
Not everybody loves the commercial aspect of Berlin’s more elite running scene. DNA founder Sebastian Cadet was a former Braves captain but defected partially because of the focus on schwag. “People start to get jealous because one of the runners gets some shoes from Nike or got some glasses from Oakley,” Cadet says. “That’s why I wanted to go back to the spirit, to the roots of this movement, not to be pushed by any brand.” (Cadet considers DNA “mostly independent”; he still sometimes takes money from brands for special projects, like race fees.)
DNA isn’t the only club that’s entered the arena in an attempt to be a more accessible gateway to serious training; in October of 2021, Nike Running Coach Aaron McCammon founded Fresh Patterns Collective, which focuses on “the fundamentals of running”. “I felt that it was important to me as not only a runner but a Black runner to be able to create a community that I could lead,” says McCammon. “My biggest joy has been seeing the progression of people that have joined the community – we have had members who before joining had never run anything up to 5K before and have now completed ultramarathons, and to see this journey has been amazing. Also to see members have a space where they relax, make friends, be their true selves and just enjoying moving together is so rewarding.”
Elgersma thinks it’s a good thing that the number of run crews offering training and camaraderie is expanding, though he thinks it’s not always for the right reasons. “I have a love-hate relationship with the growth aspect of it,” he says. “One of the reasons why I dislike it is there [are] a lot of hidden agendas of why these clubs pop up. May that be either by making a quick dime, or having a brand sponsorship, or picking up as many singles within a community.”
There’s something very special about going to work on a track with your friends and everybody being in it for the same reason.
Among Berlin’s other elite squads, perhaps none are as competitive as Berlin Track Club, where members must hit demanding speed standards to gain entry (for example, a 1500-metre sprint in five minutes and 15 seconds for women, four minutes and 35 seconds for men; a 5K in 20 minutes, 30 seconds for women and 18 minutes, 45 seconds for men; a half-marathon in one hour, 35 minutes for women and below an hour and 25 minutes for men).
Meredith Corda first discovered Berlin Track Club shortly after moving to the German capital in 2023. A runner since the age of nine, a Junior Olympics team member and a student-athlete at the University of California at Berkeley, she couldn’t imagine a life not in laces. “I just really missed synergy with a group, and having a common goal,” Corda says. “There’s something very special about going to work on a track with your friends and everybody being in it for the same reason.”
Tryouts were intense, Corda remembers. She felt the team were looking for runners who were going to be dedicated. And yet, compared to the hypercompetitive collegiate atmosphere she was used to – navigating injuries, aggressive coaches and pre-sunrise practices – Berlin Track Club is a breath of fresh air; even as one of the more serious groups in the city, the focus is still on fostering a love for speed running as a team sport.
“I had a bad workout at BTC on one of my first workouts there,” Corda says. “I was almost crying … and then I was like, wait, nobody cares. This is not like the running that I’ve been doing my whole life. It’s literally for fun.”
Groups at a glance
- DNA, dedication, attitude, diversity, free; Tue at 18:45 at Sportanlage Maybachufer, @dedicationnattitude
- Fresh Patterns Collective, Black-led, all levels, extra passion; monthly open runs Sun 09:00, @thefreshpatternscollective
- Berlin Track Club, track workouts, teamwork, ambitious amateurs; tryout info @berlintrackclub
- Berlin Braves, marathon training, team hype, longtime crew; recruiting new members in October, @berlinbraves
- KRAFT Runners, Germany-wide, open to all levels, free; every Tue at 19:00 in Kraftraum at Kleine Hamburger Str. 3, @kraftrunners
Running Mates
Non-runners love to grumble about their exercise-obsessed counterparts – too cheery, too cultish, always going on about “runner’s high” – the list goes on and on. RUN-N-RAVE may very well be their worst nightmare.
The year-old Berlin run club convenes at the crack of dawn, buoyed by electronic music and spirited yelps from team leaders. A recent Thursday morning meetup began with a group cry of “3, 2, 1, GOOD MORNING KREUZBERG!” They jog to Volkspark Hasenheide for a HIIT-style workout; when the traffic lights are red, they do squats until they turn green.
Their preternatural energy may seem foreign to still-groggy neighbours, but it’s this cheer that cultivates community. And while slandering running clubs as cultish is an easy diss, the fact is that communal running has moved assuredly into the mainstream, with clubs appealing to all sorts of preferred side activities, whether that be eating, drinking, dancing or just having a grand old time. At Run-n-Rave, their workout is followed by a breakfast scored by a DJ set, where athletes can mingle and dance – if their muscles hold up.
“I love it,” says participant Huxley Schnur. “I run all the way here. It’s just a feeling of community. Everybody getting together at seven in the morning to do a workout. It’s a lot of fun. Their whole concept is bringing people together here.”
The concept comes from Benjamin Olayinka, a Berlin community event coordinator, DJ, former pro basketball player and all-around multi-hyphenate hype man. (When asked about his DJing, Olayinka responded simply with a high-pitched “wickawickawicka”.)
“I’m fucking old now,” the 33-year-old says. “And whenever people invite me to things after 10pm, it breaks my heart. And I thought, ‘Hey, how can we get this party feeling in the morning?’ I really like running, and we just tried to combine all of these things, where you get a really dope workout and you get this socialising, party experience first thing in the morning.”
Hosted at Olayinka’s Kreuzberg community space, House of Color, runners filter up the stairs after the workout for a meticulously-prepared breakfast of berry tartelettes and English muffins topped with cucumbers and cheese. Different DJs are invited to play each time; at this August workout, Olayinka spun some Afrobeats. “Think of those toned shoulders you’re going to have,” Run-n-Rave run leader Romina Lemm shouted for motivation during the training session. “Think of that breakfast you’re going to have,” Olayinka echoed behind her.
Even if it’s really exhausting, you have a goal to look forward to. You have the instant dopamine that comes through food.
Looking forward to that protein-heavy breakfast, slice of pepperoni pizza, sip of beer or whatever keeps you afloat mid-run is a time-honoured distraction. A number of other run clubs tap into that same ‘work hard, eat hard’ mentality, promising rewards for runs.
Girl Brunch Run started at around the same time as Run-n-Rave, as its founders were getting into running themselves. They liked the idea of creating a group accessible to all levels and with an activity that would keep participants coming back: a post-run brunch.
The group rotates through restaurants in a different neighbourhood every week, often mining Instagram foodfluencers for ideas. Brunches have included greasy egg sandwiches at Wedding’s Oeuf, elevated rice bowls at Kreuzberg’s Love Deluxe and Chinese dumplings at Wilmersdorf’s Meet You.
“You have the run,” Diana Andus, a Girl Brunch Run organiser, says. “And even if it’s really exhausting, you have a goal to look forward to. You have the instant dopamine that comes through food. That’s really, really motivational to have.”
Endurance indulgences have been around as long as the sport has. (Well, maybe not since the very beginning – Pheidippides, ancient Greece’s storied first marathoner, likely didn’t eat or drink anything after, but he also celebrated the achievement by dropping dead as soon as he finished). Mikkeller Running Club began in 2014 and now has more than 200 chapters in 37 countries. It’s an offshoot of Denmark’s buzziest craft brewery, founded by a former competitive runner. The Berlin branch has an avid following, which departs from Mikkeller Berlin in Mitte on the first Saturday of the month. After the run, participants meet back at the bar, where they’re gifted a free beer that can often lead to a second, third, or fourth.
“Every time I go there, I hang out longer than I run,” Toni Hülsewig, who’s been running with Mikkeller for five years, says. Hülsewig usually opts for an ice-cold Pilsner – but only when the run is finished. “Beer during a run is not the best idea I’ve experienced,” she says. “It’s too foamy. It’s just not a good idea when you’re moving your body up and down.”
It’s cool that people know that they have this one thing in common, which is waking up in the morning and doing something good for themselves.
The club isn’t about drinking until you’re sick or to forget the pain of the run. Instead, it’s a like-minded group of self-described “beer nerds” who obsess over the social network app Untappd, and will travel across national borders to try a brewery’s specialty beer. Meetups used to be just once a month, but they expanded in 2021 to include a weekly track session, essentially because “we all decided that we should hang out more”, Hülsewig says.
Whatever the glue may be – from rave music to artisanal beer – run clubs centred around socialising and additional activities have found their footing in Berlin, demonstrating that the allure of running extends well beyond the run itself.
“It’s cool that people know that they have this one thing in common, which is waking up in the morning and doing something good for themselves,” Olayinka says. “And I think out of that you can build almost anything.”
Groups at a glance
- RUN-N-RAVE, BIPoC-led, running + workout, brunch + DJs; Thu at 07:00 at House of Color; @run_n_rave
- division:bpm, Sportsfreunde, training, travel, merch; social run Sun at 09:00; @division.bpm
- Midnight Runners, late-night energy, international, running + bootcamp + track; Wed 10K at 19:00; @midnightrunnersberlin
- Run Pack, old friends, marathon training + cheering, occasional ice cream runs; 10K Tuesdays; @runpackberlin
- Girl Brunch Run, FLINTA*, running + eating, new destination each week; signup at @girlbrunchrun
- Berlin Social Runners, all levels, post-run coffee + chatting, 10+ years; Sat at 11:00 in Tiergarten; @berlin_social_runners
- Mikkeller Running Club, run + beer, international, all levels; track Tue at 18:30, first Sat on the month 12:00 at Mikkeller Berlin; @mrc_berlin
- Coffee Run Club, run + coffee, all levels, caffeine discounts; Sat 5K at 09:00 at Green Wall Coffee and Coworking
- Berlin Hash House Harriers, “a drinking club with a running problem”, international, all levels; @BerlinHashHouseHarriers
Running Free
In 1986, a handful of gay Berliners decided to form a sports club. At first, they met to practise gymnastics in a musty low-ceilinged barracks, trying not to bump their heads while tumbling. Today, Gay Sports Club Vorspiel has more than 1,500 members, offering everything from running to squash to krav maga to line dancing. After opening its doors to women in 1993, it is now Europe’s second largest gay and lesbian sports club, the association says.
“At the time, many gays felt uncomfortable with doing sport in heterosexual groups,” member Joachim Hauschopp, 62, says. “Many of us have horrible memories of school time in terms of sport. So [the club] was a safe space.”
Almost four decades later, Vorspiel is in good company. There is now a multitude of running-specific spaces where people from historically marginalised backgrounds can go to build community, where membership may be offered based on how participants identify, and where there is zero tolerance for discrimination.
There’s Black FLINTA* Run Berlin, new as of 2024, which encourages runners on Instagram with this message: “We run to empower ourselves & take up space. Come as you are.” There’s the Joy Run Collective, a self-proclaimed “women/queer-led crew”. They put on special events, like an anti-Muslim-racism run through Kreuzberg and a sponsored fundraiser run to support victims of racist police violence. And then there’s PACE, a group founded in September 2023 for FLINTA* runners and especially those who identify as trans, intersex, non-binary or BIPoC. They typically meet twice a week for a track session and a social run through Volkspark Hasenheide, followed by beer or Pommes.
“I began transitioning maybe two years ago, and just wanted to find more community that was focused on that,” says PACE founder Ramona Tyler, who is non-binary. “And I didn’t find any groups that catered specifically to trans [or] non-binary athletes. So I made one.” Part of their desire for such a space was because the two things – running and gender exploration – were similar. “Endurance running has been a very parallel experience to transitioning – they are both a slow and steady process that doesn’t happen overnight, and involve a changing/evolving relationship with my body,” they say. “For the majority of marathon/race runners, actually winning the event isn’t really a factor; it’s more about challenging yourself and meeting your personal goals, which makes it an experience that is extremely personal and unique, much like gender identity/exploration.”
We wanted to focus on inclusivity and celebrating all levels and types of people in movement.
While Berlin may be a haven for runners, they say that a whole lot of clubs are “catering to a different demographic”. “Everyone is really thin and white and decked out in expensive gear, and really fast,” Tyler says. “And if you see that on social media when you’re looking for a club, you feel intimidated, [like] it might not be for you. So we wanted to focus on inclusivity and celebrating all levels and types of people in movement.”
Participants say these spaces are especially important considering the sport and its most hallowed competitions have historically been dominated by cisgender men, particularly white men. For example, women were only permitted to run the Boston Marathon in 1971, some 70-plus years after its founding, and there wasn’t a women’s marathon at the Olympics until 1984.
The same stories of exclusion and gatekeeping are all too familiar for Berlin’s LGBTQ+ community and for BIPoC runners, who historically face racial profiling in public spaces. And the fight for inclusion is far from over. Just last year, the World Athletic Council banned transgender women from participating in women’s sports and placed limits on athletes’ testosterone levels.
But in Berlin, many feel that things are moving in the right direction – evidenced by the fresh crop of less-than-a-year-old run crews sprouting up at a speed unimaginable back in the 1980s.
“Everything is more open,” Jens Kassner, who leads Vorspiel’s running group, says. “It’s not hidden. At the beginning, it was not easy to get people sponsoring shirts, they didn’t want their name on a gay shirt. Now it’s no problem anymore.”
The Vorspiel-associated group is part of a global community called the International FrontRunners that’s grown to more than 100 groups around the world. Berlin’s FrontRunners, who are a decades-old subgroup of Vorspiel, meet every Saturday in Grunewald for a self-paced trail run followed by a leap into Teufelssee. Several in the group are in their 60s. During one July meetup, a spry 78-year-old American joined, opting for a shorter route because he had run a half-marathon in Tiergarten the day before.
When it comes to topics such as anti-racism, gender equity, equal opportunities and pay, there is still a long way to go.
Part of what makes these communities so special is that membership can often be contingent upon identifying with the group’s specific identity criteria.
Victoria Ash, who created another FLINTA*-specific running group in Berlin (succinctly dubbed FLINTA Running) says cisgender men didn’t always take kindly to that requirement when she started advertising her club on MeetUp.
“Sometimes I get these weird answers from men,” she says. “They’re like, ‘I’m a man, but I don’t mind running with you.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, you don’t mind, but we mind. Sorry. And there’s lots of communities where you can run, but not in this one.’” She adds, “We just want to have this safe space.” Tyler echos that. “It’s a relief to be in a space where you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone,” they say. “Everyone just ‘gets’ it.”
Thi Minh Huyen Nguyen, who founded what became Joy Run Collective more than five years ago, is hopeful about Berlin’s running community lifting up those who may not have seen themselves in the scene before. “More and more people want and feel empowered to start their own run crews or clubs, which is a good thing. There should be space for more run crews to exist,” she says. “However, when new run crews come into the scene, I wonder if they know the origins of urban run crew culture … that there were people before them who opened up doors and made running look the way it looks today. When it comes to topics such as anti-racism, gender equity, equal opportunities and pay, there is still a long way to go.”
Groups at a glance
- PACE, FLINTA*, trans and non-binary friendly, track + streets; every Thu at 19:15 and on the last Sun of the month at 15:00 at Südblock, Admiralstr. Kreuzberg; @paceberlin_
- Joy Run Collective, women-of-colour-led, queer friendly, community focused; follow on IG for open run dates @joyruncollective
- Fierce Run Force, for anyone who identifies as a woman, hormone- and menstrual cycle-focused training; trials sessions Mon & Wed; @fiercerunforce
- FLINTA* Running, FLINTA*-focused, all levels, new route each time; @flinta_running
- Berlin Frontrunners, long-running, international, LGBTQ+; Sat at 14:15 in the Grunewald;
@berlinfrontrunners
Running Wild
The sun was starting to set in Grunewald. For the four trail runners navigating the forest’s thick carpet of knotted roots, gnarled branches and prickly thorn bushes, the tree canopy only allowed a weak light to shine through.
That is, until they burst above the tree line, summiting Teufelsberg and bathing in the pastel glow of Berlin’s skyline. They paused for a moment to trade high fives and bask in the 14-kilometre accomplishment, before the swarm of mosquitos urged them onward.
It’s moments like these — traversing obstacles, leapfrogging logs, soaking in those oh-so-splendid end-of-run views — that keep Berlin’s small-but-mighty community of trail runners coming back. Despite the looser organisation (some are semi-leaderless group chats) and myriad barriers to entry (finding and navigating trails, sometimes without reception) there are plenty of seasoned pros who are lighting the path, getting more and more runners into nature.
“In trail running, there’s more freedom, because you can run straight to the forest and create your own cool trail,” says Stef Kliemann, one such seasoned pro who recently completed the 100K Thüringen ULTRA race. “You stand on this mountain, and you have this amazing view, and there’s no one next to you. Not like in Berlin, where you go out and everywhere there is somebody. In the mountains, you own it, you are on your own, and you can pull the plug and enjoy.”
The city’s largest and most organised collection of trail runners belong to a more than 400-members strong WhatsApp group, aptly named ‘Trail Running’. Members often throw out suggestions like “someone in the mood to go for a hilly trail half marathon on Sunday afternoon?” or “Hey! I’m running a slow 19k on Saturday morning from Schlachtensee to Babelsberg, mostly nice trails, a lot of it along the water.”
There’s more freedom, because you can run straight to the forest and create your own cool trail.
Of course, there are also more consistent meetups led by energetic guides with toned thighs. Running4Nature has been hosting weekly Wednesday Grunewald runs for the last seven years. To meet growing demand, the group recently split its workout into two tiers, a faster 12-14K group and an easier 8-10K option.
The biggest barrier for thrill-seeking (or hill-seeking) Berliners is undoubtedly the city’s horizontal topography, a boon for most runners, but a major letdown for those craving a challenge. “Anybody who argues Berlin is a good trail running city is either lying to themselves or you,” Josh Sambrook, the founder of a nature-loving run club The Harriers, says. Flatter than a levelled car park, Berlin is certainly no Chamonix or Innsbruck. Even Teufelsberg, the city’s second-highest point, clocks in at a measly 120 metres. There are trees that are nearly that tall. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of good places to run. In the east lies the Köpenick forest and the city’s highest natural point, the Müggelberge. There’s Grunewald and its slightly higher, albeit artificial, peak – like Teufelsberg, it’s composed of World War II rubble. There’s also Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg, which features a steep rubble mountain, perfect for hill training within city limits. Trail runners compare Strava segments like executives exchanging trade secrets, dropping elevation numbers with bravado.
“[It is] thrillingly exciting when you can, on a cold, dark Berlin evening, head out to Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg and run up and down the hills there,” Sambrook says. “And you get a little window into that same feeling that you get once a year on a mountain in the Alps somewhere.”
The other barrier would-be Berlin trail runners encounter is a steeper learning curve. Whereas running evangelists often advertise that newbies only need a pair of shoes to get started, trail running can demand specialised gear, refined technique, and more involved planning.
For one, there’s the shoes. Trail shoes have robust outsoles aimed at traction, much firmer cushioning, and sometimes rock plates built in to protect against debris. Runners also often bring along packs, hydration belts, poles, navigation tools, headlamps, and even Robin Hood-style quivers (usually for poles and energy gels, not arrows. Usually).
Involved gear can turn your running addiction into a shopping addiction. But it doesn’t have to. “One of the things I’ve really loved about the people that get involved in adventure sports is that they’ll make do with whatever kit they’ve got,” says Cameron Roriston, who last year founded a new group, the TrailFinders. “They tend to hang on to bits of kit for years and years. You’ll see clothing and accessories and bags covered in patches where it’s been sewn back together, and duct tape to keep it working.”
You might end up on your bum a couple of times, but that’s also not the worst thing in the world.
In 2022, Kliemann started the Berlin Trail Testival (as in a ‘Test Festival’, not as in the tender body part you can squash if you crash into a tree on a downhill) to allow runners to try trail shoes for free. Featuring brands like New Balance, Hoka, Salomon, Brooks, Mizuno and The North Face, runners venture out to Grunewald to sample the latest shoe technology and go on guided runs. It was so popular that Kliemann doubled the frequency last year, bringing vendors out to the exposition in April and October.
Berlin’s Cozy Hiking Club also offers a monthly five-kilometre intro to trail running session in Grunewald for participants wanting to branch out into hiking’s speedier cousin. The group even has a ‘Gear Talk’ section of its Telegram channel for beginners to ask questions and compare notes.
Veterans often blaze the trail for newcomers. That was Roriston’s thinking when he started TrailFinders, intent on carving out a more consistent space for trail running in the east. “When you’re an adventurous person, it’s easy to forget how unadventurous a lot of people are,” he says. “A lot of people like the idea of going out of the city, but unless they’ve got somebody to take them there, they won’t do it.”
“You might end up on your bum a couple of times, but that’s also not the worst thing in the world,” he adds. The slips, the scratches, the mosquito bites, the thorn-punctured gel packs oozing goo down your spine – it’s all part of the fun.
Everyone in Berlin’s trail running community has a favourite extreme race they’ve taken part in. Kliemann’s is the Montane Summer Spine Challenger South, a 174K race in England whose info packet warns runners they’re likely to lose the trail due to “the combination of sleep deprivation and night-time navigation”. Ramona Tyler, who leads Cozy Hiking Club’s trail running session, is partial to the NUTS Ylläs Pallas in Finland’s Arctic Circle. Participants begin their 100K treks at 11pm – but darkness is no problem thanks to Lapland’s Midnight Sun. And Roriston thinks back to the Chiemgauer 100, where he braved 100 miles (161 kilometres) in the Eastern Alps, finishing with a knee swollen to the size of a melon.
“People say, ‘Well, that can’t be fun,’” Roriston says. “And I think, ‘Well, I’m not necessarily doing it for the fun. Part of it is the finding yourself, the testing your limits, this kind of thing.”
Groups at a glance
- TrailFinders, nature lovers, guided trail runs, training, adventure in Berlin and Brandenburg; @trail_finders_berlin
- ParkRun, Germany-wide, always 5K, one-time registration; Sat at 09:00am in Volkspark Hasenheide; @parkrundeutschland
- Running4Nature, all ages, all weather, trails + mountains; Wed at 19:00 at Drachenberg car park in Grunewald; @running4nature
- Cozy Hiking Club, queer and FLINTA*-centred, outdoor exploration, workshops; @cozyhikingclub
- The Harriers friendly, food + drink, travel; easy run Mon at 18:30, track Tue at 19:15, park run Saturday at 09:00; @berlinharriers
