HEALTH + FITNESS
Amity Means Friendship
Like-minded Socializing... On the Run.
By Amelia Smith
Every Thursday, year-round, the members of Amity Island Running Club meet to run, jog, or walk together in rain, shine, or dark of night. You might see them running down Main Street in Edgartown, lights on, chatting as they make their way around town. Some are training hard to qualify for the Boston Marathon, others are just out for a once-a-week slow jog. They range in age from late teens to over 70, and everyone is welcome. Back at the starting point, they’ll linger for a drink together before heading home.
Meg McDonald was one of the founding members of the club. In 2014, she and six other islanders ran a two-day, through-the-night team relay race on Cape Cod. The Amity Island Running Club name originated with that team, and Kara Shemeth designed the team logo, featuring a shark. “We got a lot of compliments on our logo at the race,” Meg says. Back on the island, the team wanted to keep the fun going. “We decided that we just wanted to promote running,” Meg says.
Amity’s first Thirsty Thursday run met at Bad Martha’s a little while later, and that’s still the club’s home base. “It started super small,” Meg says. “At the first one, there were maybe just ten of us, including the four who went to Ragnar.” Now about forty runners and walkers show up on a typical Thursday to walk out along the bike path or jog through town. “When we started going year-round, we grew, and when Covid hit, that’s when it really took off because people started to move here and stayed,” Meg says.
As the club grew, its activities expanded. Now Amity runners meet at Bad Martha’s on Mondays in the summer for a run followed by beer and pizza, while their Thursday runs start from Bend in the Road beach, and end with a social circle on the sand afterwards or a jump into the water to cool down. On Sundays, a smaller group meets for a long run, ranging from ten miles to twenty, covering roads and trails all over the Island.
Conversations during and after runs often revolve around running itself, members’ goals, their challenges, and upcoming events, as well as social chit chat. At some Thursday night runs, the club donates a dollar for every mile run to an organization that serves the Island community, or other important causes. These have included a Pride run in June, MV Community Services’ Connect to end Violence, the MV Cancer Support Group, The Farm Institute (Amity 5k in July), and the Food Pantry, among others. “If something comes up that one of our members wants to raise money for then we try to step in and do something about that,” Meg says.
As the club has grown, smaller groups have formed within it, and pairs and small groups sometimes get together for runs, or to travel to off-island events. One of these is the Millinocket Marathon in December. Casey O’Connor, a mainstay of the club, brought it to people’s attention as a great way to support a small town in Maine. Every year a growing number of Amity members make the trip, with 22 going this year.
When it comes to health, socializing is arguably just as important as exercise, and at Amity, there’s plenty of social time and mutual support. “We are very non-judgemental,” Meg says. “We love our walkers, and you can always find somebody to run or walk with. Watching friendships grow that started at run club has been really amazing. People who never would have met who are now best friends.”
Others echo the sentiment. “It’s brought a lot of people together who might never have met each other, and they’ve become friends,” says Chris Edwards.
“People don’t realize how supportive it is, there are people of every speed and distance, they just want to see you having fun and enjoying it,” says Ben Williams.
It’s not just about the fastest runners, Meg agrees. “Last year Teresa went from a 12-minute mile to a 10-minute mile within a matter of months, and that’s just as impressive as somebody qualifying for Boston. We celebrate everyone’s accomplishments. It brings me joy to see people come out for things, and accomplish things.”
The door is open at Amity Island Running Club, where you’ll meet a friendly group of people while you get your steps or miles in, as well as learning about upcoming events you can aim for. In the coming months, there will be the MV Winter Classic 20 Miler and Amity Relay in February, a marathon in April, the Chappy Point-to-Point in June, and a host of 5k runs all year round.
You can find general information and membership signup on the website at amityislandrc.org.
The location of the Thursday runs can vary from week to seasonally, and this and other announcements are posted on Instagram at instagram.com/amityislandrunningclub and on Facebook at: facebook.com/amityislandrunningclub.