Spartanburg, SC’s, Active Community Makes It Easy to Get Connected
When an active community is coupled with accessible outdoor spaces, the result can lead to vibrant, healthy lifestyles for residents. Spartanburg, SC, fits that description, supporting groups and organizations dedicated to fostering physical fitness and social connections. In recent years, collaborations have formed across the city to encourage gatherings, especially those among younger generations. The following meetups and a host of others make maintaining healthy habits and connecting with like-minded individuals in Spartanburg, SC, easy and fun. Whether your reasons for attending are personal or professional, these nontraditional networking groups bring plenty of excitement and allow attendees to swap business casual for athleisure.
Walking: Girls Who Walk – Upstate SC
Girls Who Walk is aimed at supporting women and connecting early career professionals through free social walking groups. These female-only meetups are meant to promote self-care, confidence, connection and, most of all, movement, with every fitness ability welcome. Details for events hosted by the Upstate South Carolina chapter are regularly posted on the group’s social media accounts.
Regular attendance is not required, so walkers can choose to walk once or join every single outing. Past walks have been held at Drayton Mills in Spartanburg as well as Swamp Rabbit Trail, Unity Park, Legacy Park and Greer City Park in nearby cities. Most of the walks are dog-, stroller- and child-friendly unless specified. Occasionally, the meetups include other activities such as yoga classes, pickleball, dance fitness, brunch or happy hour events. Girls Who Walk also partners with many local businesses to support causes, raise awareness, fundraise or celebrate holidays and themes.
Running: Rockers Run Club
If beer and running buddies sound like your kind of combination, Rockers Run Club should be at the top of your list. It began in 2016 as a partnership between PAL: Play. Advocate. Live Well., a nonprofit focused on making Spartanburg healthier, and Rockers Brewing Co. Seth Novak organizes the current iteration and has watched it develop in strides over the last few years.
“Ned Barrett (with PAL at the time) and Clay McDonough (with Rockers at the time) thought it might be fun to try to draw some active folks together to see what kind of community could form,” Novak says. “Fast forward to me taking over the club about four years ago. I decided to really amp up the social media aspect of the run, adding a lot of pictures, themed nights, shoutouts to club members, fundraisers, etc. The combination of all these things helped draw a lot more folks together and really exploded the running community in town.”
The events are held year-round at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays at the brewery, and newcomers need only show up ready to clock a few miles. Strollers and dogs are encouraged, too. After a short meet-and-greet, runners complete a loop through downtown (at their own pace, of course) and join back at the bar for optional craft beers and bites. Rockers is family friendly and, in addition to adult beverages, serves everything from salad and wings to smashburgers and flatbreads. As a bonus, it also has the area’s first indoor golf simulator – another great way to connect with others in Spartanburg, SC.
Cycling: The Freewheelers of Spartanburg
For pedal-powered excitement, nonprofit The Freewheelers of Spartanburg is another option for exercise and connection in Spartanburg, SC. It’s been around since 1973 and describes itself as a community service organization that works to provide bicycle safety, education and promotion as well as a forum for amateur sports competition and touring. Single memberships begin at $35, while families pay $50. The group gathers weekly to ride a variety of trails and routes, but these lessen during colder months. Ride details, including ride leader, distance and pace, are always featured so members can ensure every ride is a good fit for them.
Karl Johnson has been with The Freewheelers since 2009 after a running injury led him to cycling. He says those who are interested can learn everything they need to know about news, events and essential info from The Freewheeler’s website or Facebook page.
“During daylight saving time and warmer weather, we have rides posted six days a week,” he says. “Fridays seem to be the only day left out.”
Of course, there’s always the option to extend the meetup to meals and other activities or even break off into separate rides.
This article is sponsored by OneSpartanburg Inc.