New York-based Ezra Feig, an avid runner, took to Instagram to start a group for the like-minded after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. He wanted—or rather, needed—to have something to support him and others through that difficult time. For its first run in Central Park that month, the club, called Nice Jewish Runners, drew about 40 people.
What started out as a vehicle for companionship and comfort took off—or rather, took to the pavement.
Feig, 34, a health-care CMO, had previously thought casually about starting a Jewish running club, but it took the stress and intensity of that day and its aftermath to turn the plan into reality. Now at the two-year mark, Nice Jewish Runners exists in 20 cities, with several thousand members running side by side.
“It’s been a beautiful, safe space for Jewish runners,” Feig says.
Running is good for the mind, body and soul, he says. Running with those who have a common background adds that much more to an athletic pastime. It builds community and a sense of religion, initially in a fast-paced city where traditions can get left by the wayside.
Chapters also mark the Jewish holidays together—the sports group has sponsored doughnut runs around Chanukah time and hosted a Chanukah party in New York that drew more than 200 people. “We celebrate the Jewish holidays, we have Shabbat dinners,” he says. “We find ways to make ‘Jewish’ part of Nice Jewish Runners.”
They have had costume runs around Purim, where they jogged on over to a local synagogue for the Megillah reading, and a Sukkot run, which started at a local sukkah and ended with them coming back to eat in it after the run. Earlier this fall, they had an apple-picking run for Rosh Hashanah, he adds.
“We have a lot of people who move to New York, and they’re looking for Jewish community,” says Feig. “They find us, and this becomes their Jewish community. For many people, it’s less intimidating than going to a shul.”
Since everyone is welcome, some runners are not Jewish, he says, adding that Nice Jewish Runners has been a space for finding community—all runners have to do is show up to a scheduled run in Central Park, for example, and they’ll find friends to connect with.
Many are running in Nice Jewish Runner gear, available on the group’s website, which displays the Magen David—the Jewish star—with pride.
“By default, everyone’s running with a shirt that says, ‘Hey, I’m Jewish, I’m nice, and I’m proud about it,’” he says. “That’s been one of the big outcomes. It’s really inspiring our members to be proud Jews—to be open with their Judaism, to not be afraid.”
And they hope to keep helping people find community. “I would love for this to continue to grow to more cities and to continue to reach more people in the cities where we already are,” says Feig. “We’d love to one day be in every Jewish city where people are looking for connection in this way, maybe with different kinds of athletic programs, like yoga or strength training, because not everybody loves to run. But we’ve had the benefits of bringing Jews together in a sporty way.”
‘It’s a very social thing’
Jason Markson moved to Nashville, Tenn., from New York City in October 2023 for a job and got involved with Nice Jewish Runners the following summer. He had been a cross-country runner in high school and was intrigued by the opportunity to take part in something active and to continue meeting people his age. The 29-year-old says he meets with the group, which includes walkers and runners, twice a month.
“Growing up, I always had Jewish friends, and it was just such a part of my upbringing that I wanted to have people around that shared the same religion and just shared some of those values,” he says. He’s really happy to be a part of Nashville’s Nice Jewish Runners chapter, he says, especially post-Oct. 7, since it’s a place where he can find others on the same page about both his religion and Israel.
He has taken part in a Nice Jewish Runners Shabbat at an area temple, and Markson says he’s hangs out with runners outside the club as well. A few of them joined a recreational volleyball league together, and friends who met running will go out on weekends to check out Nashville’s music scene. If someone in the group is performing—so many in Nashville play in bands—club members will often come out and support them, he says, and then stick around to go out afterwards.
“It’s a very social thing, and it’s really nice,” he says. “It’s a nice part of my journey down here, knowing that we have a community. And it’s not just being Jewish; it’s active and social.”
Having the run club in his life at a regular cadence is important to him, says Markson: “I just got really lucky finding this chapter.”
The group has international chapters in Toronto and Tel Aviv. Adina Ander runs with the Canada-based group. “It’s a bunch of active people who are pro-Israel and are just excited to be doing something that’s community-oriented and centered around physical activity,” she says. “It’s a very social group, and it’s created a new community for me.”
She says she appreciates the safe environment the club creates for people to be open about their Judaism. “People feel like they can be more who they are,” she says. “They don’t have to feel like they have to hide anything or be afraid of anything, which is very nice.”
And when she spent the summer in New York City, she says, she joined right in and started taking part in local runs associated with Nice Jewish Runners. “When people go to different cities, they look for the group in that location, so it’s a great way to meet people,” she says, noting that each club has a different vibe. “It was just a really cool way to become part of a community there.”
When Jeani Atlas, 27, moved across the country from Seattle to New York City in December 2024, she went to check out the run club her first full week in town. She didn’t know anybody in the city, but says she had a good feeling about the group from the start. Nervous and excited, she showed up for her first run and has been going nearly every week since.
“From my first day, I felt so welcome,” she says. “I felt so comfortable and safe in this group. Everyone’s extremely kind, so I’ve had a really, really positive experience.”
She had wanted to find her slice of Jewish community, particularly post-Oct. 7, since she, like so many others, had experienced backlash for her support of Israel. “It was important to me to find a group that just gets it, and that was going through it together and supporting each other,” she says.
Some 150 members of the Nice Jewish Runners group, including Atlas, are set to join the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2—her very first.
“It was always a dream of mine to run the New York City Marathon, and it’s really been through this connection with Nice Jewish Runners that has propelled me to be able to do this, so on top of just finding my community in New York, it’s propelled this awesome personal goal I didn’t really know I had within me.”
