In March 2024, I started a run club with three people.
Me, two others, a start time, and a spot at Lansdowne.
I didn't have a plan. I didn't have sponsors, a brand, or a growth strategy. I had a Thursday and a starting point.
By March 2025, 50+ people were showing up every week.
Here's what actually happened.
Why I Started It
I'd been running seriously for a few years — Ironman training, long distances, the kind of work you do mostly alone at 5AM before anyone else is awake.
Running alone is fine. Running alone gets you fit. But there's a version of running that changes more than your fitness, and I couldn't find it in Ottawa.
I wanted a group that was serious without being exclusive. Community without being soft about it. People who would actually push each other — not sprint to the car after 5km.
I looked around for it. Couldn't find exactly what I wanted. So I built it.
That's the whole origin story.
The First Thursday
March 2024. Three people.
The spot was Lansdowne Park. Easy to find, parking, central enough. The run was 5–6km. The plan was to do it again next week.
There wasn't much more to it than that.
I posted about it on Instagram. A few people saw it. Two showed up. I wasn't discouraged, I expected this. Communities start small. The question is whether the thing you're building is worth coming back to.
I thought it was. So I showed up the next week.
What Actually Grew the Club
Not what you'd expect.
I didn't run ads. I didn't have a marketing budget. I didn't collaborate with other clubs or reach out to influencers. The early growth was almost entirely word of mouth — runners telling other runners.
The formula was simple:
Consistency first. Same time. Same spot. Every Thursday. No weather cancellations. No "we're taking a break for winter" If you missed one week, you knew exactly where we'd be the next.
Reliability is underrated in community building. People need to trust that what they're showing up for will actually be there. You build that trust through repetition, not through announcements.
The social hang. Every run ends with 30 minutes of standing around. This sounds minor. It's not. The run brings people together — the hang is where the community forms. Some of the people who've been coming longest were skeptical about the run itself but stayed because of what happened after.
Instagram. Every Thursday, the run got documented. Not polished content — real content. What it actually looks like to show up on a cold Thursday in Ottawa. That authenticity resonated more than any produced post would have.
People watched the Instagram for weeks before showing up. They wanted to see if it was real before they committed to coming. Consistent content made it real.
The Numbers, Honestly
March 2024: 3 people
Summer 2024: 15–20 regulars
Fall 2024: 30+ showing up most weeks
March 2025: 50+ consistently
2026: 80+ weekly
The growth wasn't linear. There were weeks with 10 people and weeks with 40. But the floor kept rising. Every month, the base got bigger.
The First Big Moment: PR Night 2025
By summer 2025, the club had enough momentum to try something different.
We ran PR Night — a chip-timed 5K, open to the community, with Lululemon and Red Bull as sponsors. 109 runners showed up.
This was the moment the club became a thing in Ottawa's running scene instead of just a Thursday night habit. A chip-timed event with real sponsors gets attention. People who'd never heard of The 25th Hour saw the recap and started showing up on Thursdays.
Events accelerate everything. A great regular run builds a core community. An event introduces you to people who'd never have found you otherwise.
What I Got Wrong
I underestimated how much the community would drive itself.
In the early months, I thought the club's growth depended on me being there, leading every run, being the face of every Thursday. That's true at the start — you are the culture until enough people carry it.
But somewhere around month six, I noticed something: when I wasn't there, people still showed up. They organized themselves. They ran. They hung out after. The culture had transferred.
That's the goal of any community, honestly. Build it until it doesn't need you to hold it together.
I also underpriced PR Night 2025. $30 tickets for a chip-timed event with Lululemon and Red Bull was too cheap. We left money on the table. PR Night 2026 will be priced differently.
What's Next
The club is now 80+ people weekly. PR Night 2026 is targeting 250–300 runners on August 20.
The apparel brand is live. Drop 03 — Products built for people who actually run, sold to a community that already exists.
The vision from the start was always bigger than a Thursday run. An Ottawa-based brand with events, clothing, and a community that eventually goes international. That's still the goal.
We're further along than three people at Lansdowne. Not as far as we'll be.
If You're Thinking About Starting Something
Start with consistency, not scale.
One night. One spot. One commitment. Show up, whether two people come or twenty.
The community finds itself when you give it a place to land.
If you're in Ottawa and any of this sounds like where you should be on Thursday nights — we're at Sporting Life Lansdowne, 7PM, every week.
No sign-up. No fee. Just show up.
Anthony Balatti is the founder of The 25th Hour — an Ottawa run club and apparel brand built for people who are done running alone. Follow @the.25th.hr on Instagram.
