Catching Up With the Running Club

As the fall semester gets underway, the running club is tightening their laces and hitting the trails, streets and tracks of Bozeman.The Exponent spoke with club president Joey Boyle to learn more.

 Boyle joined the club during his freshman year at the encouragement of a classmate who was already a member.

 “I’ve been doing it ever since and I’ve really enjoyed it,” Boyle said. As president, he now organizes events for the club and keeps it running throughout the school year.

The running club meets every weekday and runs in a mix of settings from local trails to city streets and tracks. “You can get out of it what you want,” Boyle said, “The bulk of it is just going for runs.” 

According to Boyle, the club expects to have thirty to forty members this fall with a wide range of skill and intensity levels. “We have runners from the whole spectrum of ability level,” Boyle said, “We always encourage people to join regardless.”

The club is also a great resource for runners who want to prepare for a race, whether it be a neighborhood 5k or a grueling cross-country trek. “[The club] isn’t really focused on any subset of running, it’s a bit of everything,” Boyle said. In the past, the club has prepared runners for a variety of events and is beginning to scope out races for this semester.

The club meets rain or shine and carries on its runs throughout the winter. “If it’s below ten degrees we’ll cancel practice - or if it’s actively snowing - but other than that we generally keep going,” Boyle said, “We know routes where it’s not as bad and it doesn’t get too slushy so we tend to stick to those.” 

Any MSU student can join the running club and there are no fees except for those who sign up for races and meets. The nightly runs start outside the South Dome at 5:30 p.m. and continue throughout the school year. For more information, the club can be reached at montanastaterunningclub@gmail.com.