Edinburgh Run Clubs: Where to Run and Meet People
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Nine run clubs and social runs in Edinburgh, after work and at weekends, from Portobello and Leith to Bruntsfield, the Meadows, Lothian Road, Inverleith Park and Saughton Park. Where they meet, who they suit, how to join.
Run clubs are an easy way to meet people in Edinburgh: a set time, a run side by side, sometimes a coffee afterwards. We only list groups that announce their runs on their own page or channel.
The clubs at a glance
| Club | Meeting point | Roughly when | For whom | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good Time Running Club | Civerinos, Portobello (Mon); Old Eastway Tap, Leith (Thu, both routes); Traade Space, Portobello High Street (Sun); Portobello Tap (last Fri of the month) | Mon 6:30 pm; Thu 6:15 pm (trail) or 6:30 pm (road); Sun 8 am; last Fri of the month 6:30 pm | 5 km, all levels, walkers welcome | Free (2026) |
| Social Group Running | Bruntsfield Place, corner of Bruntsfield Terrace | Tue 6:15 pm | 6 to 10 km, a reasonable level of fitness | Free (2026) |
| Run4It Edinburgh RunClub | Run4It, 108-110 Lothian Road (Mon); Run4It, 42 Turnhouse Road, Maybury (Wed) | Mon 6 pm on Lothian Road, Wed 6 pm in Maybury | All levels, over 18 | Free (2026) |
| Haries Run Club | DVC, east end of the Meadows | Thu 6:30 pm, Sun 10 am | All paces and experience levels | Not stated |
| GoodGym Edinburgh | Edinburgh Street Food | Tue, usually 6 pm | Running to a local project and helping out; walking option on many runs; 18 or over | Free, according to the website (undated) |
| Edinburgh Running Network | Royal Commonwealth Pool (Tue); Portobello (Mon, Thu); changing places (Sun) | Tue 6:30 pm; also Mon and Thu 6:30 pm, Sun 9:30 am | Chatty, social runs in three pace groups on Tuesdays; members from 18 | £22 a year for the 2026/27 season (2026) |
| Portobello Running Club | Powerleague Portobello, 10 Westbank St (winter); Royal Commonwealth Pool (summer) | Wed 6:30 pm, except the last Wednesday of the month | An adult running club, enrolment from 18 | First night free, then £1 a week and £20 a year (2026) |
| Edinburgh Frontrunners | Royal Commonwealth Pool (Wed); Inverleith Park (Sat) | Wed 6:30 pm, Sat 10 am | Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and straight friends, in the club's words | No per-run charge; £15 a year after three visits (2026) |
| West Edinburgh Running Club | Saughton Park, car park by the Winter Gardens | Thu 6:30 pm | Structured training with coaches and run leaders; all adults over 18 | Four weeks free, then a voluntary £2 a night and £25 annual membership, £12.50 from 1 November (2026) |
"Not stated" means we found no information on cost, not that the run costs money.
The run clubs one by one
Good Time Running Club (Portobello and Leith)
An independent social running club with free 5 km runs through the week (2026). On Mondays at 6:30 pm it meets at Civerinos in Portobello, and on Sundays at 8 am at Traade Space on Portobello High Street. On Thursdays both runs start and finish at Old Eastway Tap in Leith: a trail run around Holyrood at 6:15 pm and a road run around Leith at 6:30 pm. On the last Friday of the month there's also a 5 km run at 6:30 pm from the Portobello Tap. The club welcomes all levels; if you walk, someone will walk with you, and you don't need to sign up: you just turn up. Good Time Running Club
Social Group Running (Bruntsfield)
A free weekly social run (2026) on Tuesday evenings from Bruntsfield, usually about 8 km, according to the group. The current listing gives 6:15 pm at Bruntsfield Place, on the corner of Bruntsfield Terrace, and 6 to 10 km. You sign up on Meetup, and the listing also asks for a free registration with JogScotland and a reasonable level of fitness. Social Group Running on Meetup
Run4It Edinburgh RunClub (Lothian Road and Maybury)
The running shop Run4It holds free runs (2026) from two of its shops in Edinburgh: on Mondays at 6 pm from 108-110 Lothian Road, and on Wednesdays at 6 pm from 42 Turnhouse Road in Maybury. Each run starts and finishes at the shop. All levels are welcome, and participants must be over 18, according to the shop pages. No booking is required; if it's your first time, fill in the shop's form beforehand. No distance is given. Run4It's RunClub article also lists the Maybury run. Run4It Edinburgh, Lothian Road, Run4It Edinburgh, Maybury
Haries Run Club (the Meadows)
The Haries Run Club runs twice a week from the DVC at the east end of the Meadows: on Thursdays at 6:30 pm an easy evening run, and on Sundays at 10 am a run that ends at Summerhall. The club says pace and experience don't matter, and on Sundays nobody gets left behind; no distance is given. According to its FAQ, you can come along and try it: member or not, you will be welcomed. You only have to join the club to compete for it, vote at the AGM or stand for the committee. The FAQ also says you don't have to be a student, but you must be a member of the Sports Union; people who aren't students get a form from the club's Secretary. No price is given. Haries Run Club
GoodGym Edinburgh (Edinburgh Street Food)
GoodGym combines running with helping out: on Tuesdays the group runs to a local project, lends a hand and runs back. According to its Edinburgh page, it normally meets on Tuesdays at 6 pm at Edinburgh Street Food for its regular group run. Timings and distance vary by session, so check the run you want before you go. GoodGym welcomes anyone aged 18 or over, according to its session listings, and many runs have a walking option. The group run is free, according to its group runs page (undated). You sign up there or just turn up.
Edinburgh Running Network (Royal Commonwealth Pool and Portobello)
The club describes itself as a friendly, local running club; its training is for people who can already run 5 km continuously, and it takes members from 18. On Tuesdays at 6:30 pm it meets at the Royal Commonwealth Pool for what it calls "chatty, social sessions led by a run leader", in three pace groups. It also runs on Mondays and Thursdays at 6:30 pm in Portobello and on Sundays at 9:30 am from changing places. If you'd like to try a session before joining, the club asks you to email it first and then run with it as a visitor, so don't just turn up; the address is on its website. Annual membership costs £22 for the 2026/27 season (2026). Edinburgh Running Network, training days
Portobello Running Club (Portobello)
The club calls itself "an adult running club with enrolment from age 18". Its Edinburgh sessions meet at 6:30 pm on Wednesdays, except the last Wednesday of each month: in winter, from mid-September, at Powerleague Portobello, 10 Westbank St, and in summer at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, according to its training locations page. Check that page before you go. The runs go along the Promenade in Portobello and, in summer, around Holyrood Park. Your first night is free and needs no sign-up; after that the club expects you to join, with subs of £1 a week and an annual membership of £20 (2026). The club is also on Strava. Portobello Running Club, new members
Edinburgh Frontrunners (Royal Commonwealth Pool and Inverleith Park)
The club describes itself as "A running club for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and straight friends." It runs twice a week: on Wednesdays at 6:30 pm from the Royal Commonwealth Pool and on Saturdays at 10 am in Inverleith Park, and afterwards the group often goes for food on Wednesdays and for brunch on Saturdays. There is no per-run charge. You put your name on the weekly sign-up sheets, and the club works on a "try-before-you-buy" basis: after three visits, membership costs £15 a year, or £5 for students, pensioners, people on low incomes and unwaged members (2026). The club is also on Strava. Edinburgh Frontrunners
West Edinburgh Running Club (Saughton Park)
The Thursday Session is the club's main club night: every Thursday at 6:30 pm in Saughton Park, meeting at the car park by the Winter Gardens, with structured training sessions led by coaches and run leaders. All adults over 18 are welcome, and everyone gets a four-week free trial. After that, the club asks for a voluntary £2 a night; standard annual membership costs £25, or £12.50 if you join after 1 November (2026). Its calendar lists the coming sessions. West Edinburgh Running Club, Thursday Session
How to find your club
- Pace: All paces and experience levels at the Haries Run Club; all levels at Good Time Running Club and at Run4It; at the Edinburgh Running Network, three pace groups on Tuesdays for people who can already run 5 km continuously. Social Group Running asks for a reasonable level of fitness, and West Edinburgh Running Club offers structured training with coaches and run leaders.
- Walking: At Good Time Running Club someone walks with you if you walk, and many GoodGym Edinburgh runs have a walking option.
- Time: After work, Good Time Running Club, Run4It on Lothian Road and the Edinburgh Running Network on Mondays, Social Group Running, GoodGym and the Edinburgh Running Network on Tuesdays, Run4It in Maybury, Portobello Running Club and Edinburgh Frontrunners on Wednesdays, Good Time Running Club, the Haries, the Edinburgh Running Network and West Edinburgh Running Club on Thursdays, and Good Time Running Club on the last Friday of the month. On Saturday mornings, Edinburgh Frontrunners at 10 am; on Sunday mornings, Good Time Running Club at 8 am, the Edinburgh Running Network at 9:30 am and the Haries at 10 am.
- Group: Run4It's participants must be over 18, according to the shop pages, and GoodGym Edinburgh welcomes anyone aged 18 or over. The Edinburgh Running Network and Portobello Running Club take members from 18, and West Edinburgh Running Club welcomes all adults over 18. Edinburgh Frontrunners describes itself as a running club for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and straight friends.
- Afterwards: The Haries' Sunday run ends at Summerhall; at GoodGym the time together is spent helping out on a local project; Edinburgh Frontrunners often go for food after the Wednesday run and for brunch after the Saturday run.
- Signing up: No sign-up at Good Time Running Club; Meetup and a free JogScotland registration at Social Group Running; a form before your first run at Run4It; GoodGym's page or just turning up at GoodGym Edinburgh; at the Haries you can try it without joining. Email the Edinburgh Running Network before you run as a visitor; your first night at Portobello Running Club needs no sign-up; weekly sign-up sheets and three visits before you join at Edinburgh Frontrunners; a four-week free trial at West Edinburgh Running Club.
After the run
Simple openers work: "Do you run this route often?", "How long have you been coming?", "Are you training for something?" If the group posts its runs on Meetup or on its own page, check there for updates. And if you got on well with someone, suggest running together next week.
For people who lead a run club
If you lead a run club like these, you know the moment after the coffee when everyone heads off without swapping numbers. before is a web app for organisers. Before the start you show the QR code on your phone; runners check in with it in their browser, without installing an app, and anyone who likes takes a selfie. The day after, the afterparty is open from 10 am to 8 pm. Anyone who shared a selfie sees everyone else who shared one there and can press the button for meeting again for up to five people. At 8 pm everyone finds out at the same time who wants to see each other again, and only then does a chat open. One-sided wishes stay invisible, and nobody receives a rejection. Nobody needs a profile. More on the page before for organisers.