It’s 8:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, and I’m dodging pedestrians and street signs on Rue de Bonne Nouvelle in Paris as I jog at a relaxed pace. Suddenly, the runners around me speed up, and I find myself sprinting down the road, passing neighbors at a speed I didn’t think was possible after running nearly 5 miles. I feel euphoric—like I could run another 5 miles—when just as quickly, I’ve reached the end point of this run: Baldoria Pizzeria. I exchange high fives with the other out-of-breath runners and devour the free slice I’m entitled to for showing up and running. This is Foodrunners Club, a hot, new run club based in Paris.
One of my top goals for my semester abroad was to join a local club or sports league. I knew weekly meetups would offer me a sense of community, new friends, and another way to practice French in the real world. Plus, I love to stay active, and club sports have been a staple of my time at Harvard. Unfortunately, there aren’t many lacrosse leagues in Paris, and I never heard back from the squash club I reached out to, so I had to look elsewhere.
After hearing about my idea to plan a run tour of the best croissants in Paris, one of my friends in my program sent me a TikTok of Foodrunners Club. I was intrigued immediately. The club promised biweekly 4–5 mile runs, each ending with free food from a new restaurant or boulangerie in Paris, plus the chance to meet people and continue the party at nearby bars after evening runs. It sounded perfect. Too good to be true. For better or worse, I was not alone in this sentiment. I ended up #286 on the waitlist the first time I tried to sign up for a run. Devastated, I set an alarm to be ready to sign up the following week. When I secured my spot, I felt like I had won the lottery.
After I hopped off the Metro, I had fifteen minutes to make an eight-minute walk, so I peppered in some high knees, leg swings, and hip openers on my stroll over to the restaurant. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place until I saw dozens of twenty-somethings clad in running gear, packed into a tiny restaurant. The air buzzed with conversations between old friends and newcomers shyly introducing themselves. I explained countless times that I was an American here for one semester to everyone I met.
At 7:45 p.m., the head of the club ushered us outside for an energetic warm-up of leg stretches, squats, and hops, and then we were off. Pedestrians scurried out of the way and cars stopped at intersections to let us—a pack of 100 some people—run by. I felt an odd sense of pride as onlookers took a video or we waved to another run club. We were running, and people noticed. Pride turned into gratitude as we reached the Seine and glimpsed the Eiffel Tower. I could not believe I was running along the Seine with views of world-renowned monuments on a random Tuesday.
Five miles later, we were nearly back to the pizzeria. I finished strong with a sprint that left me feeling accomplished and ready to keep running. I had not run five miles in a few months, so I was stoked that I still had it in me, and then some.
Beyond the awe of seeing the Eiffel Tower and the satisfaction of pushing my physical limits, I was also surprised by the music that blared from the speaker clipped to someone’s backpack throughout the run. At least four out of five songs were American throwbacks, tracks I’d danced to at middle school socials and prom. There also was a good number of Spanish songs. As I sang along to “Hips Don’t Lie” with a girl who, in fact, did “come from Colombia,” I was reminded how globally connected our world has become. Paris is an international city, and my experience with this run club reflects that.
Outside of Parisian pastries, the run club has tried pizza, empanadas, kebabs, and other global cuisines. It offers a snapshot of the diverse culinary scene in Paris, introducing participants to new favorite spots. As I’ve learned in my Paris history class, the city has a strong and vibrant immigrant community. As I see and try restaurants from every continent on a single walk in my neighborhood, this part of Paris comes to life.
Both the run club and the city of Paris attract people from all around the world. On one run, I was surrounded by this diversity. To my left was a girl from Venezuela, and to my right was a guy from the Netherlands. I had never realized I could find the diverse international experience I craved when coming abroad without catching a flight to another country. Whether in run club or elsewhere in Paris, each person I talk to offers a unique perspective—I feel like I have learned so much about the world from a month of being here.
While studying abroad, it’s easy to stay in an American bubble. After all, my program is American, and my friends are American, so it takes an intentional effort to meet true French people. After putting in the effort by running a few miles and introducing myself to strangers at the run club, I can confirm that the effort is worth it. Making new friends from all around the globe is awesome, and it teaches you so much about how different people live life and their views on the world. I chose to study abroad so that I could learn about and explore a new part of the world. No matter how international Harvard is or how many free two-week trips it can send you on, a semester in Cambridge can never immerse you in a new culture the same way that a semester abroad does.
Frances Connors ’26 (maryfrancesconnors@college.harvard.edu) plans to run the Cambridge Half Marathon…even if there’s not a croissant at the end.