The LGBTQ+ community trades heels for Hokas at Movin’ Shoes Run Club’s bi-monthly Queer Run
It’s Wednesday evening and the queer community is on a mission to break a sweat.
But instead of wearing glitter and fishnets, they’re geared up in cushioned running shoes and heart rate-tracking watches, and instead of meeting on the dance floor, they are on the loft-level of Movin’ Shoes, a specialty running store on S Park St. that has served the city of Madison since 1973, getting ready to hit the trails.
Movin’ Shoes Run Club is a running group that is loosely affiliated with the store, which serves as the club’s home base and namesake. Since its founding nearly 30 years ago, the club has grown significantly and it now has about 400 members, according to 28-year-old Kellen Caldwell, a run club board member who started running with the club in 2021.
The Movin' Shoes Run Club hosts a different themed run almost every weekday evening, offering something for striders of every stripe: casual runners on Monday, speedy runners on Tuesday, Women on Thursday and, now, Queer folk, every second and fourth Wednesday of the month.
Holly Lang, co-creator of the Queer Run, joined the run club earlier this year. The 30-year-old noticed that her interactions with other queer people were limited to gay bars and clubs, and often ended unsatisfying due to the loud and chaotic environment. She quickly realized that a designated running group could provide LGBTQ+ an alternative way to find community.
“So much of queer culture revolves around meeting up at a bar or meeting up at a club, and that's a very hard place to actually make meaningful friendships,” Lang said. “But if you can show up to run with the same people on a semi-repeated basis and have normal-speaking-level conversations, that's an opportunity to connect with somebody in a way that matters.”
Caldwell — who is also a part of the LGBTQ+ community and a member of the group — believed that running could also mimic the physical sensation of going out and dancing.
“There are some parallels with the value of running together as being similar to the reasons why queer people go to a club and dance together,” Caldwell said. “There is just something very uniting about moving together.”
With the help of Caldwell and other run club board members, Lang brought her vision to life, and the club’s inaugural Queer Run took place in late July.
Now, on the second Wednesday of October, things kick off at their usual start time, 5:45 p.m., with 10 minutes of housekeeping — sharing names, pronouns and answers to the evening’s icebreaker question: What’s your favorite type of bread?
After tying shoelaces and talking focaccia, the 11 runners are ready to begin their 4.2 mile loop, which takes them through Brittingham Park, up to the Capitol — with a special stop to take a group picture with the pride flag painted on the street — and down State St.
Queer runs, like this one, started as a monthly occurrence, but by its third month, the run club made the event twice-monthly, thanks to consistent interest and attendance. Lang hopes for the continued growth of official club runs, as well as individual meet-ups and connections outside of the club.
“A personal goal that I have for the club is to see, within the meetups that we do, people starting to show up regularly, forming meaningful friendships and meeting people that they would want to run with more often.” Lang said.
Meaningful friendships were on display for the almost 45 minutes of continued cardio and conversation. Topics ranged from the mundane — school and work — to the niche — where to find the best sunglasses for triathlon training.
But the run is about more than just conversing with other queer people, it's about making a statement of visibility, according to Caldwell.
“We’re loudly and proudly saying we’re here, we’re queer and we’re going to do this thing that is about exploring, being comfortable in our bodies and being fit,” Caldwell says.
Queerness, Caldwell emphasizes, includes all people who fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Historically, trans people have struggled to participate or compete in sports at places like schools, because of laws creating restrictive policies for transgender athletes, but Caldwell wants it to be known that is never the case at run club events.
“If you want to be here in a queer space, you absolutely can, especially the ‘T’ of the LGBT. I really want it to be known that this is a place where if you are trans or gender-diverse in any way, you are absolutely welcome to come here as yourselves,” Caldwell said.
A handful of loud and proud miles later, the run finishes in the same place that it started, the storefront of Movin’ Shoes.
Once every runner has finished the route, thank yous are shared and a plan for the Nov. 5 run is hatched. Although it’s not on their regularly scheduled Wednesday, there is a lot at stake for LGBTQ+ people this Election Day, and the group agrees that an unofficial community-care run is in order — reiterating the reason that they all came here tonight in the first place: to support each other.
