The Maine Agenda › Outdoors in Maine
Portland, Maine Run Clubs: What Actually Meets This Fall, and Which Listings Are Out of Date
Search for a run club in Portland and the same short list comes back: a 2019 magazine roundup, a directory page, a Facebook group you have to be logged in to read. Most of it was accurate once. One listing still tells you to meet at a brewpub that closed in June 2024.
Here is what we could verify on September 29, 2026, read off each club's own site or the store that hosts it. Where we could not confirm something, we say so instead of guessing.
The short answer
Three free options have a current, published schedule: Runaways Run Club (Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening, Sunday morning), the Marathon Sports group run on Marginal Way (Tuesday and Thursday at 6:00 p.m.), and the Maine Track Club, which is a paid membership club with its own race calendar. Everything else on the older lists is either unconfirmed or stale.
Runaways Run Club: the one to try first
Runaways calls itself the largest weekly run club in Southern Maine. Its homepage says there is no membership fee and you can just show up. The FAQ adds one real step: it asks you to register for free membership before your first run so you are covered by the club's RRCA insurance. Do that on your phone in the parking lot if you have to.
What is on the club's own calendar right now:
- Cove Run, Tuesdays at 6:00 a.m., 814 Baxter Boulevard, Portland. The FAQ describes it as a light trail run at Back Cove. The calendar shows the start moving to 5:00 a.m. from Tuesday, November 3, and the listings run through December 15. That is two days after the clocks fall back and well before sunrise, so bring a headlamp.
- Pub Run, Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m., at a rotating brewery or bar. Posted so far: Mast Landing in Westbrook on September 30, Austin Street on October 7, Marathon Sports on October 14, Argenta Brewing on October 21, Hardshore Distilling on November 4, Après on November 11 and Rising Tide on November 25. The calendar skips October 28 and November 18, and we do not know why. The FAQ says pub runs are posted at least two weeks ahead, so check Facebook before you go.
- Sunday runs, 9:00 a.m., on trails or in town. The calendar lists Bradbury Mountain State Park on October 11 and North Falmouth Community Forest on October 25.
The pace policy is the reason it works for beginners. The FAQ says the club does not split into pace groups: people range from 13-minute milers to 5-minute milers, everyone finds a buddy, someone leads from the front, and on trail runs the group stops to regroup every mile and a half to two miles so nobody gets lost. Walkers are allowed. The tradeoff is also stated plainly: organizers will not be standing at major intersections, so carry your phone.
One thing to know before you plan a Thursday. The FAQ gives a summer schedule that includes Thursday evening trail runs and a winter schedule that drops them. Winter is Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening and a Sunday morning run. Our own guide to running in Greater Portland described the club's days without that distinction, which is why we updated it today.
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Marathon Sports on Marginal Way: the weeknight option
Marathon Sports lists its Portland store at 309 Marginal Way with a group run Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. The company's group-runs page says all paces are welcome and that there are no fees, always free. The Brunswick store, at 89 Maine Street, lists the same two evenings.
The 2019 roundup lists a Fleet Feet run club in Portland. We did not verify a Fleet Feet group run this session; what we could read is that the Marginal Way store now publishes its group run under the Marathon Sports name. The page gives no pace or route, so ask at the counter what the loop is that week. This is the easiest place to start if Tuesday at 5:00 a.m. is not a thing you do.
Maine Track Club: the membership club
The Maine Track Club is a different animal. It is a nonprofit that runs races (its site lists a Grand Prix series, a Turkey Trot and a Midwinter Classic) and offers coaching and training pages behind a paid membership through RunSignup. We could not read its dues or a weekly group-run schedule off its site this session, and the homepage's top news item is the cancellation of the 2026 Farm to Farm Ultra because of an incoming storm. So: real club, real races, and a current price we will not print until we can read one.
If your goal is a race calendar, a training group and a season-long crew, this is the club to ask about. If your goal is to run with humans on Tuesday, start with the free ones.
The listings we could not confirm
Old Port Pub Run. A 2019 Curiouser Maine (formerly Fit Maine) roundup lists it as a free Thursday 6:15 p.m. run out of Liquid Riot, and a run-club directory still gives the address as 250 Commercial Street. Liquid Riot closed permanently on June 2, 2024, and WCYY reported the space was being taken over as Camp Pennant. We found no post-closure listing for this run, so we cannot tell you whether it moved, folded or simply stopped updating its directory page. We are not saying it is gone. We are saying no current source tells you where to stand at 6:15.
Thick Quad Squad. It has a Strava club (268 members when we looked) describing itself as a free running community open to anyone, with the motto "Run Long. Climb Mountains. Get Weird." The 2019 roundup placed its Sunday run at Coffee By Design on Diamond Street. The club's own thickquadsquad.com returned a 404 for us, and the Strava page does not state a day or time. Ask in the Strava club before driving anywhere.
Cooldown. A Portland walk/run club under that name lists launch events on SweatPals. We found dated launch events and no weekly schedule, so we are leaving it at that.
How to pick
Want the most likely to actually be there: Runaways on a Wednesday. The location changes every week but the day, the time and the format do not, and it ends at a bar with people who just ran.
Want it after work and near a shop that will fix your shoes: Marathon Sports, Tuesday or Thursday.
Want a training plan and a race: Maine Track Club.
Want winter: Runaways' Tuesday cove run is the only one on this list whose posted calendar runs into December, and it starts at 5:00 a.m.
If you found this page because you are new to town, the same logic applies to every kind of group: pick the one with a recurring day and show up three times before deciding. Our piece on clubs and groups to join in Portland makes the same case beyond running, and the race side of it is in races and competitions around Portland.
FAQ
Are there free run clubs in Portland, Maine?
Yes. Runaways Run Club states there is no membership fee, and Marathon Sports lists its Portland group run as always free. Runaways does ask you to register for free membership before your first run for insurance reasons.
What days do Portland run clubs meet?
Runaways meets Tuesday at 6:00 a.m., Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday at 9:00 a.m. in the fall and winter schedule. Marathon Sports on Marginal Way meets Tuesday and Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
Do I need to be fast to join a Portland run club?
No. Runaways says its runners range from 13-minute miles to 5-minute miles, does not split into pace groups and allows walkers. Marathon Sports says all paces are welcome.
Where does the Tuesday Runaways run start?
At 814 Baxter Boulevard in Portland, on the Back Cove trail. It starts at 6:00 a.m. through October and moves to 5:00 a.m. from November 3 on the club's posted calendar.
Is the Old Port Pub Run still happening?
We could not confirm it. Older listings put it at Liquid Riot on Commercial Street, which closed in June 2024, and we found no current source with a new meeting spot.
How much does the Maine Track Club cost?
We could not read a current price on its site this session, so we are not publishing one. Its membership runs through RunSignup at mainetrackclub.com.
Do Portland run clubs keep going in winter?
Runaways does. Its winter schedule keeps the Tuesday morning cove run, the Wednesday pub run and a Sunday run. Its Thursday trail runs are on the summer schedule only.