SAN ANTONIO — San Antonians are hitting the ground running, getting more active weekly. 

Morning or evening, rain or shine, the running culture is present in the Alamo City with numerous clubs to choose from, like Dreamers Run Club. 

“I think San Antonio has been needing things like this. They are so ready to support things they want to be a part of,” Jessica Eskandr, the Dreamers Run Club co-founder, said. 

The club’s other co-founder, Brittany Ulep, said it’s a new way for folks to socialize and support small businesses. 

“We run every single week, so every Monday and Friday you can find us at a different spot in San Antonio,” Ulep said. “We love to explore new places, new adventures, different routes.” 

There are even niche runs like Coffee Run Club, co-founded by Aaron Castillo. 

“As you saw your friend go, you wanted to go too; you didn’t want to have that sense of FOMO. You wanted to have fun, you wanted to meet people maybe in a different sense other than you were used to at the club or somewhere else like that,” Castillo said. 

Santino Corrales, who co-founded the Downtown Run Group in 2012, said the running community has come a long way since those days. 

“When we started, there was maybe about almost 30 or 20 or so [people] that would meet up at our Saturday morning training runs,” Corrales said. “Now we have upwards to 400, 500 people at our Saturday morning long training run days leading up to the San Antonio Marathon.” 

This past weekend was a perfect storm for San Antonio running enthusiasts. San Antonio Sports sold out its inaugural San Antonio Marathon with 18,000 runners from all 50 states and from 23 different countries. Simultaneously, San Antonio hosted The Running Event, a global convention usually held in Austin. 

“It’s such a loving city, and I think that’s why all the run groups have flourished,” Corrales said. “We are able to grow this running community and now for the inaugural San Antonio Marathon.” 

Most importantly, the runners say it’s giving a city often deemed as unhealthy an active lifestyle option. 

“For those of you who are new to running, or are hesitant, just know we were new at some point,” Ulep said. 

Castillo said running has helped him with his physical and mental health. 

“I do think something like fitness or concentrating on your health is going to help us individually and collectively, especially in a city like this,” Castillo said.