Run Clubs That Meet in Prospect Park
Prospect Park is the center of Brooklyn's running scene. The 3.35-mile loop draws runners from Park Slope, Crown Heights, Flatbush, and across the borough every day of the week — and it's home to some of the most active and well-organized run clubs in New York City. If you want to run in Brooklyn with a group, this is where most of them gather.
Where Do Run Clubs Meet in Prospect Park?
The two primary meetup spots you'll see referenced most:
Grand Army Plaza (main entrance, north end of the park) is the most common gathering point. The arch at Grand Army Plaza is one of the most recognizable meeting spots in all of Brooklyn. Clubs that meet here tend to start and finish on the loop.
Prospect Park West & 15th Street entrance is used by smaller clubs that prefer a quieter entry point. Running Souls meets here specifically — it's across from the Pavilion movie theater.
The Boathouse in the southeastern part of the park is another landmark used as a reference point. Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC) uses the loop area near the Boathouse for many of its events.
If a club says 'Prospect Park' without more specifics, check their Instagram bio for the exact entrance — especially for weeknight meetups where smaller groups use side entrances.
What Are Prospect Park Runs Like?
Prospect Park's 3.35-mile loop is the workhorse of Brooklyn running. A single loop is a comfortable distance for most; two loops (6.7 miles) is a solid long run. The loop is mostly flat with a gentle climb through the center of the park that keeps it interesting.
The park is car-free on weekends and during specific hours on weekdays, making it especially good for running without dodging traffic. The surface is a mix of roads, paths, and bridle trail depending on which section you're on.
Most clubs run early morning on weekends (7–9:30am) and evenings on weekdays (6:30–7:30pm). A few high-activity clubs like Left Overs Run Club meet 4 times per week with multiple session types — speed work on Tuesday nights at Joseph Yancey Track (not in the park itself, but nearby in the Bronx), and long runs on Sunday mornings.
Brooklyn's Run Club Scene Around Prospect Park
Prospect Park has a deeper concentration of active run clubs than almost anywhere outside of Central Park. Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC) is one of the oldest and most competitive clubs in the city, regularly placing in NYRR championship events. South Central Brooklyn Runners (SCBKR) trains throughout the borough with Prospect Park as a home base. Running Souls meets three times a week and is one of the most accessible clubs in the city for all paces.
The Badass Lady Gang, Brooklyn Queer Run Club, and Black Men Run (NYC chapter) all meet in or near the park, giving it one of the most diverse running communities of any park in the country.
Run Clubs Meeting in or Near Prospect Park
18 clubs
Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC)
PPTC is Brooklyn's largest running club with over 2,000 members, founded in 1970, built around a genuinely inclusive community ethos rather than competitive gatekeeping. Group runs happen every day of the week out of Prospect Park, spanning easy social miles to coached speed workouts and marathon training groups led by Coach John Honerkamp — the Wednesday night run ends at a bar, and the Friday morning run wraps with coffee and pastries. The culture has a distinctly Brooklyn neighborhood feel: annual awards nights, a Valentine's Day Sole Mates note exchange among members, and a summer picnic and relay race. PPTC also functions as a civic institution, having donated over $100,000 to Brooklyn community organizations through its biannual grants program.
Badass Lady Gang
Founded in 2015 by Kelly Roberts after viral NYC Half Marathon selfies, Badass Lady Gang is a women-identifying running community that explicitly rejects diet culture and performance pressure. Free Tuesday nights at 6:30pm, the group runs through neighborhoods at conversational pace — everyone stays within yelling distance, no one gets left behind. The ethos is joy over speed: success is measured by confidence gained, not miles logged or pounds lost. Post-run coffee hangouts are a genuine part of the ritual, not an afterthought.
BK Run Project
An inclusive Brooklyn-based running club offering coach-led group training at Prospect Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays for all abilities. All paces welcome.
Black Men Run
Black Men Run is a mission-driven brotherhood built around the specific health crisis facing Black men — heart disease, obesity, and diabetes — using running as the vehicle for accountability and community care. Runs open with warm-ups and motivational check-ins and close with a celebratory finish, creating a ritual that is as much about mental and spiritual health as physical fitness. The NYC chapter meets at Prospect Park's Grand Army Plaza entrance on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays and is explicitly open to all fitness levels and backgrounds, while centering Black men's wellness. Members describe it as 'probably the only space where I can be 100% me in all ways possible' — a sanctuary, not just a sweat session.
Brooklyn Kids Run
Kids ages 6-14, USATF registered team, coached by Maggie Deschamps (RRCA certified, 35+ years competitive running), small classes for individual attention, meet at 9th St entrance to Prospect Park by the monument in Park Slope, $15/class or $135 for 10-pack
Brooklyn Queer Run Club
Brooklyn Queer Run Club is a deliberately no-barriers Saturday morning run crew in Brooklyn for LGBTQ+ runners of every pace and experience level — no signup, no experience required, just show up. What sets it apart from other queer run clubs is the intentional post-run hang: every week wraps with coffee, pastries, and local food, and the club periodically hosts potluck picnics where members bring homemade food and games, building social fabric that extends well beyond the miles. Runs rotate between Prospect Park and other Brooklyn locations, keeping the community embedded in the borough rather than migrating to Manhattan. The club explicitly positions itself as unequivocally queer and community-led, rejecting hierarchical or performance-driven structure in favor of belonging first.
Brooklyn Tri Club
A triathlon club that welcomes members of all backgrounds from beginners to elites, offering group workouts, social events, and educational clinics. All paces welcome.
Crown Heights Run Club
Crown Heights Running Club is a free, volunteer-led community that runs five days a week out of Prospect Park and the surrounding neighborhood, with pace groups from 8:30 to 12:00 min/mile and a dedicated leader who always stays with the back of the pack so no one gets left behind. Long runs go all over the city — 7 to 15 miles across boroughs — and the club also volunteers with the Prospect Park Alliance, partners with Girls On The Run, and delivers meals together. Post-run bagel and beer is the stated tradition, and the annual Brooklyn Marathon celebration at Spumoni Gardens has become something of an institution. Tight Slack community, active racing crew, no fees.
Lean Strong Fast
Performance-focused run club meeting at Grand Army Plaza for Saturday morning runs into Prospect Park. Training-oriented community.
New Mom Run Club
Founded by journalist Nadia Neophytou in March 2023, New Mom Run Club is built around the uncomfortable truth of postpartum running — the physical setbacks, the identity shifts, the slow and nonlinear return. Runs are intentionally short (about 2 miles) and chat-first, designed for moms who are still figuring out what their bodies can do again. The community gathers around a Substack newsletter featuring raw interviews with postpartum runners, and the in-person runs feel like a moving support group as much as a workout. The tagline 'new = state of mind' signals it's for any mom at any stage, not just women who just gave birth.
Nightcrawlers Running Club
A Thursday evening run club meeting at Grand Army Plaza at 8pm, welcoming all experience levels. All paces welcome.
Queer Runnings BK
A Brooklyn-based running club for queer women, trans, and non-binary folks. Open to all paces and levels with a strong community focus. Check their Instagram for current schedule and location updates. All paces welcome.
Queers Run Brooklyn
Queers Run Brooklyn is a community-led LGBTQ+ run club explicitly built to be accessible to all paces and experience levels — the priority is showing up queer together, not racing. The club meets three days a week and anchors its weekly long run at the steps of Brooklyn Central Library, one of the more committed schedules of any identity-based run club in the borough. It carries NYRR affiliation, giving it race-day credibility and infrastructure support, while staying deliberately grassroots and Discord-first for day-to-day communication. The club's Discord and Strava presence signal an engaged, habitual membership rather than a casual drop-in crowd.
Running Souls Run Club
Small, friendly group. Free to join, coached workouts led by RRCA-certified founder Howard Abrams. Tues/Thurs speed/endurance, Sat social run with coffee. Accessible (10:30/mi min pace). Meets at Prospect Park West and 15th St entrance across from movie theater.
South Central Brooklyn Runners
Diverse running group for all types of runners, walkers, and endurance athletes in South Central Brooklyn and beyond.
Spartan Sundays Run Club
An all-inclusive run club with over 13 years of history, meeting primarily on Sunday mornings with multiple weekly runs and organized Spartan mud races several times yearly. All paces welcome.
Sub 3 Dreamers
Sub-3-hour marathon focus club. Tagline: 'Chasing the dream long past our primes.' Members who break 3 hours are removed from the crew. Small, identity-driven group built around a single performance goal.
Team We Run Kings
Brooklyn-based performance running team built for Black and Brown runners. Founded 2016 by Joseph Shayne and Jennifer Blalock as #NoSleepTilBKHalf, launched as a business 2017. Trains 5K through marathon. Multi-location model: Prospect Park (Tuesdays, warmer months), The Armory in Washington Heights (Tuesdays, winter), The Brooklyn Circus in Boerum Hill (Saturdays year-round). Ability-tiered sessions (Fast, Faster, Fastest) plus post-run strength and conditioning. Drop-in available ($25/session) or membership with enrollment windows. Partners include PUMA, Strava, Under Armour, The Brooklyn Circus, Bombas, Reebok. Coach Joe Shayne is a Boston Marathon qualifier and PUMA ambassador. Over 1,000 members trained since founding.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What time do run clubs meet in Prospect Park?
- Weekend runs typically start between 7–9:30am. Weeknight runs are usually 6:30–7:30pm. Always verify on the club's Instagram bio — summer hours are often earlier, winter hours later. Some clubs post weekly meetup details a day or two in advance rather than keeping a fixed permanent schedule.
- How far is the Prospect Park loop?
- The main loop road is 3.35 miles. Most run clubs do one or two loops depending on the day and session type. The bridle path inside the park offers a slightly longer, softer-surface option for easy runs. For longer distances, clubs often extend routes into surrounding neighborhoods.
- Is Prospect Park good for running?
- Yes — it's one of the best running venues in New York. The full loop is 3.35 miles, it's car-free on weekends and certain weekday hours, and the terrain is varied enough to be interesting. It hosts multiple annual races and is used by clubs ranging from casual social groups to competitive training squads.
- Which Brooklyn run clubs meet in Prospect Park?
- Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC), South Central Brooklyn Runners, Running Souls, Badass Lady Gang, Brooklyn Queer Run Club, and Black Men Run NYC chapter all meet in or immediately adjacent to Prospect Park. Team We Run Kings (TeamWRK) uses it for Tuesday evening sessions during warmer months.
Prospect Park has been Brooklyn's running heartbeat for decades. Whether you want a competitive club that races NYRR events, a social group that ends at a coffee shop, or a community-first crew that looks out for its members, you'll find it here. Browse the clubs below and find your match.