At 95 million users and counting, Strava’s popularity as a social media platform and largely positive, even wholesome, online space for fostering community amongst other runners (and cyclists) has been well documented. People joke about writing overwrought “novels” in your Strava caption, eyeing a run-crush’s stats, and deciphering the meaning behind someone’s kudos. British runner and Times Deputy Food Editor Hannah Evans has found that Strava has another unique use, even if it’s not what the developers had in mind. The newly single 28-year-old has been using the workout and run-tracking platform as a dating app.
Even before the age of dating apps, running groups and events have provided a natural avenue for meeting potential dates who also love to run. Who among us hasn’t spotted a cute runner at an event and then searched the race results for their name or bib number? Strava, with its built-in social functions and features—allowing users to add photos and comment on posts, and give congratulatory “kudos” akin to Facebook’s “like” button—gives some runners yet another way to connect, flirt, and find dates.
Evans, who began running during the early pandemic days of 2020, writes in The Times that she was fed up with conventional dating apps like Tinder and Hinge, and Bumble. “I’m increasingly feeling that the men I end up swiping right are rarely a good match,” she says. But at least the men she meets on Strava share her love of running. While that in itself isn’t enough to ensure someone will make a great match, “a shared, passionate interest isn’t a bad place to start.”
She notes that when you run with other users, Strava automatically clusters you into a virtual group, so when you open the app again, you receive a notification with their names and profiles. “This means you don’t even have to ask for someone’s number while you’re busy getting your breath back,” she says.
It’s roughly this method that led to one of her friends meeting the guy she’s currently dating. She thought he was attractive and ran behind him at a fun run, so when Strava surfaced his profile later that day, she followed him, which led to kudos and a flirty comment, and “the rest is Strava history.”
Others admit to using Strava as a way to vet potential suitors based on their stats; “I want to know if he’ll be able to keep up with me,” another friend of Evans’, an ultra-marathoner, told her.
Evans has even used the ad hoc Strava-as-dating-app approach while traveling abroad. On a trip to Michigan, she met up with a running group for a social run; she was training for the London Marathon and needed to get in the miles anyway. “But five miles, a Strava follow, and 10 hours later,” she was at a bar on a date with a gentleman of interest.
Of course, mileage may vary. Strava has united couples who ended up married after meeting on the app. It’s also led to breakups in some cases. In the end, it’s just another tool, but if you’re a single runner looking for creative ways to jumpstart your love life, you might consider looking at Strava as something more than a running log.
Abby Carney is a writer and journalist in New York. A former D1 college runner and current amateur track athlete, she's written about culture and characters in running and outdoor sports for Runner's World, Like the Wind Magazine, The New York Times, and other outlets. She also writes about things that have nothing to do with running, and was previously the editor of a food magazine.
