By John Garvey

Although it’s raining cats and dogs in north Fort Collins, people in athletic shorts keep pouring into Snowbank Brewery, gearing up for the weekly group run with North FoCo Pub Runners. Around 22 people have turned up and a few are fortifying themselves with a pre-run pint. It’s hard to guess how many will actually run the 3 ½ mile route and how many will stay behind and drink beer.

Alas, the rain lets up a few minutes after 6:00 and co-president Mike Mangalea herds everyone out the door. Nobody stays behind. It’s pretty damn lucky that the rain passed, but it’s also warm enough to risk getting wet if it starts up again. Everyone breaks into small groups, talking among themselves and setting off at their own pace.

“I’m not a runner, but I run.”

With its emphasis on inclusiveness and (to a lesser degree) hedonism, North FoCo Pub Runners has always sought to avoid being a club for hard-core runners. Three years on, you still see people in basketball shorts, fair weather runners, even stoners. Some regulars never aspire to run more than 3 ½ miles, others are ultra-marathoners.

Derek Fedak was first drawn by the club’s social appeal and drink discounts, showing up only sporadically for the first eight months or so. He’s been part of the club for around 2 ½ years and now has two long trail races under his belt. Yet he hesitates to identify himself, fundamentally, as a runner.

“I still don’t have a lot of interest or drive just to run a marathon,” Fedak admits. “But if there’s ever a really cool race that happens to be that distance, that oversees some beautiful terrain and it’s an interesting course, then I just really like the adventure aspect of it.”

Derek’s wife Kristen recalls, “I had been running around him for years and that never made him interested in getting off the couch—it was once I started running AND having a beer with people after that he got jealous. It was after a whole group of us went to Imogene in 2015 and he just stood on the sidelines as we ran and listened to the recaps that he realized he wanted to actually run a race. He still goes weeks at a time where the only running he does is the weekly 3 miles.”

Although the club doesn’t do training programs or even have a formal membership structure, many run together on weekends and occasionally organize road trips. One trip, which Kristen alluded to, was to the Imogene Pass Run in 2015. Seeing eight or so friends cross the finish line in Telluride inspired Derek to return the following year as a runner. At 17.1 miles, it was the furthest he’d ever run.

North FoCo Pub Runners, sponsored by Noosa Yoghurt, meets each Thursday at a taproom in Old Town Fort Collins. Runners enjoy exclusive discounts and free Noosa each week. The club’s regular rotation includes Slyce Pizza, Copper Muse Distillery, Scrumpy’s Hard Cider Bar and Snowbank Brewery. During the spring and summer they also meet the second Saturday of each month at Howling Cow Café in nearby Belvue, CO.

It’s true: running and beer go together like biscuits and gravy. Don’t try to tell North FoCo Pub Runners otherwise.

A business journalist, content marketer and magazine writer, John has written about the Colorado hemp industry, running, passive architecture, wellness and cleantech. He also enjoys writing about anything that’s brewed, distilled or fermented. A Fort Collins resident since 2013, John was the president of North FoCo Pub Runners for three years. View John's portfolio at www.clippings.me/johngarvey.