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When Julia Nagel-Mayberry moved to Chicago in 2022, she knew only a handful of people. She was 22, had just finished college, and quickly discovered that making friends in a new city was much harder than it had been in school. When she told a coworker about her predicament, he lit up. "I have the perfect thing for you," she recalled him saying. That's when she learned about the Electric Athletic Club, a nationwide run and fitness club.
The next day after work, Nagel-Mayberry made her way to the run club's local meeting point. "I was so anxious," she told me. During the 3-mile run, people chatted with each other, and one runner kept pace with her. Afterward, the 15 runners, all in their 20s and 30s, congregated at a bar.