'Choose your own adventure:' Purple Bowl Run Club fosters community

At the Purple Bowl Run Club, nobody has to run.

“You can come and run with a group if you want, or you can run further, you can run faster, you can run shorter, you can run slower, you can not run at all,” Amelia Loeffler, the run club leader and coordinator, said.

Every Wednesday at 8 a.m., the club meets at The Purple Bowl, an acai bowl restaurant on Franklin Street. 

The club, which sometimes attracts up to 30 students, journeys through the nearby Gimghoul neighborhood, through campus, past The Old Well and back to The Purple Bowl. This route is a perfect 3.1-mile loop — or 5k — from start to finish.

“You get a couple of small hills, nothing crazy. And it doesn't take too long,” Loeffler said. “I have come to love that little loop. It's really sweet.”

For those who participate, the deal is even sweeter. Following the run, group members receive a coffee of their choice from The Purple Bowl menu for free.

Though the club originally started when the restaurant opened in 2017, Loeffler, a UNC senior and employee at The Purple Bowl, revived it as a passion project after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, Loeffler said the run club helped her find community as an out-of-state student.

“When we first restarted the running club, it was really just me and, you know, some friends I dragged out,” she said. “But this year especially it's really kind of taken off and grown.”

Erin Huter, a UNC sophomore, said the idea of a free latte is initially what drew her to the club. She first attended last September and is now a weekly participant.

“It's just fun to meet new people, because it also brings people from all different areas and people who are motivated to just have a fun run at 8 a.m. in the morning,” Huter said.

With class registration underway, Huter said Purple Bowl Run Club remains in the back of her mind when selecting class times. If she can avoid an early-morning Wednesday class, she will.

“I plan on doing it next semester, and yeah, hopefully until I graduate,” Huter said.

Paula Gilland is The Purple Bowl's CEO, or self-proclaimed "mama bear." She said one of the reasons her family opened the restaurant was because of running. 

Gilland’s son, Taylor, who owns The Purple Bowl, is an avid runner and curated the establishment’s menu with foods for an active lifestyle. When the Purple Bowl was first opened, the run club was organized by the restaurant’s nutritionist.

Now, under Loeffler’s leadership, Gilland said the club is at a new level.

"I think it's her positive energy and her acceptance of everyone, anyone can come," she said. "It's very inclusive." 

Gilland said the run club fills gaps in the community, like providing additional safety for female runners and fostering camaraderie in downtown Chapel Hill.

The Purple Bowl is currently in the process of moving to 505 W. Franklin Street. However, Gilland said they will definitely bring the run club with them. In the future, she said they hope to have an evening run club or a “stroll club” for individuals with strollers.

“I love to run, but I know that not everyone can, and not everyone wants to,” Loeffler said. “Something that I try and emphasize is that it's really like a choose your own adventure.”

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