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When Mexican-born Oliver Herrera moved to Melbourne four years ago, after spending years overseas as an aid worker, he had few friends here and was lonely.
His Australian wife, Amelia, sought to help him. She knew Herrera loved to run, and he loved to drink beer.
Jog to a brewery: Nthside Collective community running club meets at Inner North Brewing Company in Brunswick.Credit: Jason South
On social media, she found the perfect pastime: a brewery running club.
Herrera hasn’t looked back since he joined Nthside Collective’s free Friday night runs, which start at Inner North Brewing Company, a micro-brewery in Brunswick.
Nthside Collective community run club member Oliver Herrera after a jog with his dog, Chela.Credit: Jason South
He now takes his dog, Chela.
“It’s changed my life,” said Herrera, who previously ran alone but who now has both a social and fitness outlet in one.
The Nthside Collective night is among a slew of running sessions linked to breweries and bars that have sprung up across Melbourne.
Nthside Collective members jog for seven kilometres, including around Princes Park, where some runners take shortcuts if needed, and return to the brewery for a beverage.
The group’s founder, three-time Olympic runner Dave McNeill, said beer and running weren’t mutually exclusive and that “overwhelmingly what we do is pretty healthy”.
McNeill, now a physiotherapist and running coach, said in the years he spent travelling the world as an elite athlete, he would occasionally have a beer with his coach and teammates.
The group’s runners pose for a group shot outside the brewery.Credit: Jason South
He is proud Nthside Collective has “created new social connection for a lot of people”.
Mal McLeod, of Warragul, who drives 120 kilometres to join the group every Friday, having previously run and cycled alone, said it had been “very good for my mental health as well as my physical health”.
Inner North Brewing owner Zachary Skerritt, who sometimes runs with the group, said the club had fostered a community.
A separate brewery run group, the Aussie Beer Milers Club, meets at a different brewery every month to run for five kilometres on Saturday afternoons.
Mal McLeod drives from Warragul to Brunswick weekly to run with Nthside Collective.Credit: Jason South
Founder Melissa Vandewater said members mostly run from inner-suburban venues such as Molly Rose Brewing in Collingwood, but sometimes ventured further out, such as to Blackman’s Brewery in Torquay.
Vandewater insisted that runners don’t have to drink alcohol, as there are non-alcoholic options.
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Karl Robson, president of the long-running Gunn Runners club, or “Gunnies”, which meets at the Limerick Arms in South Melbourne on Tuesday nights, said ending a run at the pub is “your reward for getting out there and doing your five Ks”.
He said the pub offers runners a free drink, but people often buy more drinks and a meal.
Gunn Runners charges each member $5 per run, which funds public liability insurance, IT expenses and contributes to charities.
Professor Matthew Klugman, a sport historian at Victoria University, said that in the 19th century, many Australian pubs hosted and sponsored athletes and sports teams, including running and pedestrian (long distance competitive walking) clubs.
Melbourne’s Renegade Pub Football League, where 10 Australian rules teams represent pubs such as The Tote in Collingwood, has existed officially since 2009, although games began on a more casual basis in 1993.
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