Runner's High
At the studio with the coaches of Mile High Run Club.
Not many people wake up the week of Thanksgiving and think to themselves: You know what? I’m gonna go on a casual 50-mile run.
But evidently this thought did occur to Danny Sheehan, because he’s telling us about it now, his long jog through fall foliage on a brisk November day, with the matter-of-fact tone of someone discussing, I don’t know, laundry, or a bagel, or a rerun of Seinfeld.
I guess it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, though. We’re talking at Mile High Run Club, after all, where Sheehan and his fellow running coaches have gamely agreed to put our new Stealth Pro performance boxer briefs to the test. One of New York’s premier fitness studios, Mile High takes the pace of a HIIT workout, puts it on a treadmill, and adds some exhilarating music and neon lighting—the result of which is sweating. A lot. But in a good way.
Still: Might this be intimidating to the average person?
“Honestly, I think the hardest part is just getting in the room,” coach Andrew Lyle says. “Once you’re there, it’s easy to say ‘yes’ to the challenge.”
“You can clearly see that when you're struggling or tired,” coach Shódan Rodney adds, “the person next to you or in front of you is going through exactly the same thing.”
The ethos of Mile High Run Club feels particularly well-suited to the moment. A recent study found that, in 2024, there was a nearly 60% increase in run club participation; people signed up not only to workout, but to socialize. Articles and thinkpieces abound, positioning the trend as a natural response to a post-pandemic world dominated by remote work and digital devices, less “partying” and more dating apps. “These clubs,” one New York Times article suggests, “help people build communities in cities that can feel alienating.”
Certainly, New York may be considered one of those cities. But its alienating qualities can also serve as the wellspring of its collective spirit.
“The amount of runners by sheer volume in New York City is higher than anywhere else in the country,” Lyle says. “The competitiveness and intensity can be overwhelming, but I also think it can sharpen you, especially when it comes to running.”
For 45 minutes in-studio, Mile High can feel like a microcosm of the greater New York running community—albeit one where competition, over the course of a class, gives way to camaraderie.
“The beauty of running is that literally anyone could put on a pair of sneakers and go outdoors, and they know that there's other people in the world probably doing it at the same exact time,” coach Alain Saint-Dic says. “What I love about a Mile High is you take those people and you put them in the same environment.”
Coincidentally, Sheehan was coaching a real-live running team—with the delightfully onomatopoeic name, “Dashing Whippets”—when a heat wave rolled through the city. Ducking into a class at Mile High, he quickly felt a kinship with the format.
“In my classes, I always say we're a team in the room whether you buy into it or not,” he says. “But if you do buy into it, you're really going to feel surrounded by that energy.”
Learn more about our collaboration with Mile High Run Club here.