Sunrise Social Club connects UR students with local community members

With the sound of birds stirring and only a sliver of sunlight on the horizon, a group of people begin to form at the River Road Starbucks parking lot. As the minutes go by, some drive up wearing colorful outfits, while others wander in, appearing to have just rolled out of bed with a single goal in mind: to chase the sun.

While getting college students out of bed at the crack of dawn to go on a run is a seemingly impossible task, University of Richmond senior Ava Tankersley, founder of the Sunrise Social Club, has built a growing community of dedicated sunrise enthusiasts that show up no matter the conditions twice a week for a sunrise and sunset workout.

Tankersley first came up with the idea for a run club while studying abroad last spring in Sydney, Australia. There, the norm is to wake up early and run clubs are very popular. Tankersley decided to combine the two to form the Sunrise Social Club. 

“It wasn't even initially going to be a run club, but running is so popular there, and run clubs are so popular, I figured we could just rally a bunch of people to go run on a Tuesday morning,” Tankersley said.

Tankersley decided to bring the club back with her to Richmond for the fall, but she wasn’t sure if it would be a success. 

“It was whether people would show up at first that I was concerned about, because I am starting it off a college campus, and getting college students to wake up before 6 a.m. is kind of unheard of. So at the first run, I legitimately thought no one was gonna come,” Tankersley said.

For the club’s first run, Tankersley was the only runner at the Starbucks parking lot at 6 a.m. Soon after, others started to trickle in.  

“As college students do, they all showed up a little late,” Tankersley said.

Many members of the club learned about it through social media and Tankersley’s sidewalk chalk advertising at UR.

“I saw the chalk on the campus which was really cool and I thought, oh sunrise, since I am a morning person so I’m up usually early and I love to run, so I was like this looks fun.” said senior Sarah Grace Clarke.

Not all the regulars find the early time so easy. Senior Cooper Woods said he needed some convincing to get to the Starbucks parking lot at dawn.

“I’m friends with Ava and a few of the other people in the club and they dragged me out for the first run and I’ve been coming ever since,” Woods admitted. 

Tankersley also used social media to attract not only students at UR, but also members of the wider Richmond community. Ezra, a Midlothian resident who has been a part of a couple other run clubs in the past learned about Sunrise on Instagram.. 

“When there’s a new running club in the city it’s always something to come check out because you never know who you’re going to meet,” he said. 

Creating outside engagement was one of Tankersley’s goals with the Sunrise Social Club.

“I think the University of Richmond has a lot of clubs already, but it kind of feels like a bubble where there aren't that many opportunities to meet people off of campus, and I think that's so important, especially for me as a senior," she said. "I'm not gonna have this community of being a student after I graduate, so finding communities that engage everybody, that was always my goal."

Now, the members range from UR students all the way to residents of Fredericksburg. 

Not everyone at the club is a regular. At the beginning of every run, Tankersley asks all the newest “sun chasers” to raise their hands. Recently, first year Owen Neyland was one of those who raised his hand. Despite running track and field throughout high school, this was the first ever run club he has been to. 

“It’s actually incredible seeing the number of people that come out here; spending the time to go for a run, which is good for your health, but also talking to other people and making friends,” Neyland said.

While the sunrise and views are what attracts many to check out the club for the first time, it’s the friendly community that brings people back. 

“I think ours is a very wholesome group, it just feels like friends,” Tankersley said “It doesn't feel like you're competing to run at a certain pace. We're not training for performance, we're really just people that enjoy being outside.” 

Contact writer Jeremy Young at jeremy.young@richmond.edu