Making Track Cool Again

There are eyes from around the world on how Erin Groll has been hyping up track nights in South Africa. It feels like now is the perfect time.

Track has been having a moment.

Big events like the Olympics and European Championships have always been there, but in terms of the amateur runner, it’s largely about marathons, cross-country, run club, or trails. Track doesn’t really fit into the everyday equation. It’s an effort.

Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos and Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track have been cooked up to both increase visibility and accessibility, with the overall goal of making athletes running round and around a 400m track more of a spectator sport. However, neither is the grassroots events we maybe need them to be to make track seem like less of an effort. Enter Community Track Club.

I talk to Erin Groll about her and Michael Obery’s brainchild, a free monthly community track night event in Cape Town, South Africa that increases accessibility to tracks for run crews across the region.

It all started two years ago …