UAE: Meet viral, all-girl run club founder who believes in making friends, not winning races

Moving to a new country can be a lonely and isolating experience. So, one Abu Dhabi resident has decided to create a social running group that’s exclusively for women who want to make friends.

British national Chloe Wilson, 28, founded the 'Stronger Together' running club back in June this year. While her first few Friday morning runs were attended by only three to five women, it now attracts up to 50 per session. The Instagram page has also grown to 2,500+ members in less than four months.

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“It all started when I posted a call out on Instagram asking if any other women wanted to meet up for a run. I was so nervous and worried that nobody would come. But all the women who did were lovely, and we had so much fun,” Wilson told Khaleej Times.

“I then created some videos about what we were doing, and suddenly, it all blew up. I don’t know how it happened, but I started getting hundreds of messages from women who wanted to join, and my followers went from 4,000 to 10,000 in just two months. We started as a group chat, but it quickly got too big to manage and so I created a page for us instead,” she added.

‘Way to start the day’

Wilson noted: “You can tell by the interest we’ve had that there was a real need for a group like this. Some of the city’s other running groups can seem a bit intimidating or serious to some people, but we don’t try to go fast or win races.

“We are more about chatting and relaxing than hardcore training, and it's all very upbeat. It’s a safe space where women can feel comfortable, and we always go for coffee or breakfast afterwards. It’s an incredible way to start the day.

“We get lots of looks, smiles and waves while we are running, too. After all, you don’t see many big groups of women running together in Abu Dhabi,” she added.

The group was inspired by Wilson’s desire to help herself – and other women in Abu Dhabi – make like-minded friends, and to make running in the heat more enjoyable, too.

“In my early 20s, I was a real party girl,” Wilson admitted, adding: “But I stopped drinking around three years ago as I found it was damaging my mental health. I then moved back to the UK during the pandemic, and I completely fell in love with running.

“However, when I returned to Abu Dhabi, I lost all motivation to run in the heat. I found it boring running on my own, and I was also lonely because so many of my old friends had moved away. I wasn’t interested in going to brunches and ladies’ nights, and I found it hard to make new friends who had similar interests,” Wilson shared.

Fun run and friendship

Open to women of all abilities, the group meets every Friday at 6am at various locations, including Yas Island, Reem Island, Saadiyat Island, and the Corniche. Each session lasts around 40 minutes, and everyone is free to run as far as they want during that time.

Wilson plans to start doing weekend runs from October, and even running retreats, too.

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