Why I Started Rendezvous Run Club

A town full of hobbies

I started Rendezvous Run Club because I moved to Jackson and couldn't find a run club that met year-round. So I sent one message to the town GroupMe, and a group of strangers showed up on a Saturday morning.

That's the short version. The longer version starts with how this town spends its free time.

Jackson is full of hobby-maxxing people. The hobbies just look different than they do in most towns. Here it's ski touring, climbing, trail running, fly fishing, mountain biking, and chasing FKTs on the peaks you can see from the grocery store parking lot. Everyone is looking for the next adventure, and a little adrenaline along the way.

For a newcomer, that's exciting and a little overwhelming. There are endless ways to fill a weekend or the hours after work. But you also need people to do those things with, and when you're new, that's the harder part.

From too many run clubs to almost none

I moved to Jackson in November 2025 after five years in New York City.

In New York, finding a run club was never the problem. Like most big cities right now, the run club scene there is saturated. There's a club for every neighborhood, every pace, and every day of the week, and plenty of them overlap. So when I moved, I assumed I'd walk into the same thing, just with better views.

I didn't. Jackson has one trail running group, Teton Trail Runners, and it meets from June through October. That's a great season for trail running here, but it left a long stretch of the year with no regular group run on the calendar. And November, when I arrived, was right at the start of it.

So on a whim, I sent a message out to the town GroupMe asking if anyone wanted to run on Saturday. That was the start of Rendezvous Run Club.

Saturdays through winter, Thursdays at the Brew Pub

We met every Saturday through the winter. Anyone who has spent a winter in Jackson knows that's a commitment. Dark mornings, cold air, and roads that don't always cooperate. The people who kept showing up anyway became the core of the club.

As the weather started to warm up, I added Thursday evening runs from Snake River Brew Pub. Those runs brought some of our biggest turnouts so far. It turns out an after-work run that ends somewhere you can grab a drink and actually talk to people is a pretty easy sell.

That's really the point of the whole thing. The run is the reason to show up, but the people are the reason to come back. A lot of us were new to town, a lot of us weren't, and it didn't matter much once we were all out there together.

Brands, nonprofits, and what's next

One of my favorite parts of running the club has been connecting with brands, both local and from around the world. We've hosted collab runs with Hoka, Arc'teryx, Altra, and Stio, and we've done extras like an ice bath recovery event at Snake River Brew Pub. Those events give members a chance to try new gear, meet the people behind the brands, and mix up the usual routine.

I plan to keep doing brand collaborations. I'm also excited to partner with more local nonprofits in 2027. Jackson has a lot of organizations doing good work, and a group of people who already show up every week is a natural fit for fundraising runs and volunteer days.

Mostly, I'm excited for the group to keep growing. If a single GroupMe message could turn into this in under a year, I'm curious to see what the next one looks like.

FAQ

Do I need to be fast to join? No. Rendezvous Run Club is built to be inclusive, and every pace is welcome. The goal is to get out, run, and meet people.

When does the club meet? We've run on Saturdays since the club started, and we added Thursday evening runs from Snake River Brew Pub once the weather warmed up. Follow @rendezvousrunners on Instagram for the current schedule.

I'm new to Jackson. Is this a good way to meet people? That's exactly why I started it. Showing up to the same run every week is one of the easiest ways to start knowing faces around town.

Come run with us

Whether you just moved here or you've been in the valley for years, come run with us. Follow @rendezvousrunners for dates and meeting spots. And if you're thinking about making Jackson home, I'm happy to help with that side of things too. Reach out anytime at sophie.dolan@evrealestate.com.