Members of the Grateful Miles Running Club took their love of the sport to a new level last weekend by competing in the DC Half-Marathon.

The club’s membership has “exploded” since co-founders Ezekiel Stoneham and Daniel Woods set up the venture in 2024, with more than 150 people showing up to the first anniversary party at Sunjammers in July.

After taking part in the Philadelphia Half-Marathon last year, Stoneham proposed the idea of the Washington race to his members and was surprised when another 13 came along for the ride. They were Woods, Courtney Anderson, Alex Lymbery, McQuinn Burch, Shannon Burchall, Omari Tucker, Marcus Darrell, Robert Richardson, Keishon Wilson, Jahkai Hill, Delbert Doars, Nelshea Bean and Matthew Madeiros.

“Three or four of us did Philadelphia last year on a whim, and this year we said we were doing DC and asked if anyone else was interested,” Stoneham said.

“I contacted BermudAir, who gave us a discounted rate for ten, which we had to increase to 14, and we all really enjoyed the trip and the event.

“Two or three years ago, there were about 5,000 people running and now it’s approaching 10,000. When you have that many people in an area, it’s electrifying.

“The positives were that, compared with Bermuda, the elevation gain was only 150ft, whereas Bermuda Day is about 700ft. The race also starts at 7am and it’s in September, whereas Bermuda Day is in May, so it’s a completely different and more enjoyable run. That showed in our results, with most of us running personal bests and five of us running a half-marathon for the first time.“

Stoneham and Woods decided to focus on consistency and fun as the cornerstones of their club, with the majority of runners young adults keen to embrace the social side.

“Myself and Daniel started taking running and racing more seriously at the start of 2024, and the best way of putting it is that we are accountability buddies,” Stoneham said.

“We had the idea of then starting a running club and finding a place every week to bring people together. We find people really enjoying the consistency, whether it’s raining or not — they know the Grateful Miles team, of which there are about ten of us, are always going to be there at 6.30am at the predetermined location.

“Now we have a solid base of 50 to 60 people. We have had children as young as 7 or 8 show up, but we have to tell people that there is a social and alcoholic element.

“On social runs, we bring beers and water, but some people are not there for the drink; they are there for the camaraderie. But there is no barrier to anyone coming. Everyone is welcome; we’re all just wanting to have a good time, have a little sweat and a good conversation after.

“Even this weekend when a lot of us were in DC. we posted a virtual 5K and the community really got involved.”

While the 14 runners were in Washington last weekend, they acted as ambassadors for the Bermuda Triangle Challenge, which is held in January and attracts amateur runners from across the United States and beyond.

“We have a lot of people to thank for getting us this far,” Stoneham said.

“We thank the Bermuda Tourism Authority for seeing the vision and aligning with us as best as we could, and BermudAir have been great in sponsoring our shirts and giving us discounted prices to fly away.

“Bermuda Triangle Challenge have also been a massive help with everything. They have helped show us what we should be doing. While we were in DC, we did some promotions for them, handed out flyers and spoke to run club leaders to promote the event in January.

“All three companies have said that they don’t want to change what we are doing, and that they just want to help. That sums the running community up in that they are so welcoming and so open-armed.

“What better way is there to advertise Bermuda than by running through DC in a bright pink shirt.”