BruinRunners is taking strides to build community.
Every weekday evening, the student-led running club meets at the top of Drake Stadium to run routes across West Los Angeles. The club aims to create an enjoyable environment for students interested in running, regardless of skill level, said Nicole Nunes, the co-president of BruinRunners.
“If you like running, or you want to like running, this is the place,” said Nunes, a third-year environmental science and political science student.
The club offers a middle ground between competitive and casual running, which Nunes said sets them apart from other running groups. She added that people in the club run at different paces and different distances, so members are not left behind.
Bruno Cardenas-Bourges, the co-president of BruinRunners, said running is often seen as an individual sport, but it can also be collaborative.
“We all have each other’s backs,” said Cardenas-Bourges, a fourth-year mathematics of computation student. “We’re all rooting for each other because we’re not running against each other.”
Evie Kimbrough, a first-year psychobiology student, said Cardenas-Bourges encouraged her to attend her first BruinRunners practice, which helped her find a community as an out-of-state student.
“Everyone was so welcoming,” Kimbrough said. “It made me so happy to go.”
Ava Godbout-Moser, a third-year psychology student, said the club ran a particularly hilly and challenging route during her second practice in fall quarter. After walking up a hill, she thought she was completely alone, until she rounded a corner and found another club member to finish the run with, she added.
“I sped up to try to catch up to her, and then we did the rest of the run together, and then we got dinner together, and now we’re good friends,” Godbout-Moser said. “It was such a nice bonding moment.”
Many members of BruinRunners have backgrounds in other sports, Godbout-Moser, a former competitive swimmer, said.
BruinRunners allowed her to push herself in running as she transitioned into the sport, she added.
“The first day, I was like, ‘This is exactly what I need because I’ve never run this fast in my life,” Godbout-Moser said.
The club has eight routes they typically run, Cardenas-Bourges said, many of which have passed down from previous generations of BruinRunners. The club runs through areas including Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Santa Monica, he added.
“A good route is like a storybook,” he said. “Part of the reason why I love running is because I get to see so much – there’s so much in the world that I would never have seen if I didn’t run.”
Cardenas-Bourges said his favorite route is Stone Canyon Road, which runs down Sunset Boulevard and into Bel Air. The route is uphill for about three miles through the neighborhood – meaning that on the way back, it’s straight down, he added.
Nunes said that some of her favorite memories with BruinRunners comes from the worst weather conditions – like running in the rain and working out on the track during a hailstorm.
“We looked like drowned rats, but it was a great time,” Nunes said.
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