WRITER PAUL TAM
There's something unique brewing in the underground of the running community. Not your average group of joggers, the Bridge the Gap (BTG) movement has been slowly forming and establishing itself within the international running community over the past few years. The various crews are not running groups, but rather crews of like-minded and creative souls that are connected to the pulse of their city, the unspeakable rhythm of their home. Moreover, they thrive on unpredictable routes and spontaneity, running through the streets both in the evenings and mornings alike. Exploring new neighborhoods; no path is off course, no obstacle too imposing. Getting lost just makes things more interesting, and wilding out afterwards is maybe the only thing predictable about these gatherings.
BTG is an energy and camaraderie unparalleled in the fitness scene, and is so unique that people are devoting their whole lives to it. UNDO wants to pay homage to the community and their stories.
THE GENESIS PART
Bridge the Gap was conceived out of a conversation between Charlie Dark (of London), Mike Saes, Cedric Hernandez and Jessie Zapo (all of New York City). One night, with an old school Red Alert tape playing in the background, the conversation lead to how every city had an iconic bridge. Charlie suggested a Bridge Wars type of project where crews would try and claim a bridge in another city.
"It was just a fleeting comment but I remember Mike spinning it into a positive way of bringing people together from different cities," says Charlie. "We talked about how we were all influenced by music and creative culture, and I guess ‘Bridge The Gap' moniker was a good term for all of the ideas that went down that day."
With the name of the movement established, Charlie reached out to a couple of running crews via email and proposed getting together for the 2012 Berlin Half Marathon, a city that was easy for everybody to meet up in.
"That first call to arms where we descended on Berlin will go down in history as a landmark moment, especially if you take into consideration how the running scene has progressed and blossomed since."
One of the running crews that went to Berlin was NBRO. Named after the Norrebro quarter in Copenhagen, it was founded in 2010 by Karl-Oskar Olsen, the co-founder of clothing label WoodWood, along with Troels Frederiksen (Trozzels for short), Anders Rømer, Mike Rosenmejerand, and longtime NBRO regular Jacob Ørholm, who was asked to step in for Karl when he became too busy to run the crew. After winning the "Nike Run Your City" challenge in Copenhagen, NBRO fell in love with the fact that they had found a sport that fit their lifestyle. Today, NBRO hosts a run in the general Copenhagen area every single day of the week. But no matter night or day, long or short, the run always starts at "Kaffesalonen" a small Nørrebro coffee shop by the lakes of Copenhagen. NBRO maintains a great balance of the crew's hardcore urban running style, with excursions out of the city to run in nature as much as possible, something that truly sets them apart from other running clubs in Copenhagen.
Another running crew in attendance at the inaugural meeting in Berlin was the Paris Running Club (PRC). Co-founded by Jay Smith of BlackRainbow fame, Paris Running Club was founded in 2008 for the Nike Human Race in Paris. Jay was asked to create a group of non-runners who were influencers in a specific industry. The idea was to bring total new jacks and complete beginners, in terrible physical shape, and help them complete a 10k (6 miles). Since then, Jay has been the chief supreme and main dictator of the running scene in Paris, with locales that include Quai de Jemmapes, Quai du Louvres, Goncourt, Le Marais, Les Buttes Chaumonts, and La Villette, to name just a few.
Charlie created Run Dem Crew in 2007 by himself, out of a selfish desire to lose weight, save his friends from dying early, and help his community embrace the Olympic legacy. They started with six people who ran two miles on Friday nights, and now have a crew of hundreds. The primary neighborhoods Run Dem frequents are East London, City of London, and Central London, however the crew has members all over London proper. They consider themselves an all city crew.
And then, of course, there's Bridgerunners. Founded by Mike Saes, the New York City crew was born on a hot summer night in 2004. In the beginning, the runs were mostly at night, usually to the gym, and served as an alternative to a night out drinking. The small group of five that gathered had no pervious experience with running, in fact, most had never run in their lives. Cedric eventually joined after Saes kept showing up at the East River Track, where he was doing a track work out with Power, another Bridgerunner OG.
As big as New York City is, Bridgerunners passes through all hoods: starting in downtown Manhattan and then running wherever the night takes them, sometimes running to hip-hop events in Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx, anywhere really—the city is their playground. And that's what being a Bridgerunner is all about: the idea of what a bridge connects you to — the different hoods, cultures, and sights. They never run the same route two weeks in a row…ever. All routes are made on the fly, spur of the moment, inspired by the sights and sounds of New York City, and that's what keeps people coming back.
THE RUN, PARTY, REPEAT PART
The mantra "Run, Party, Repeat," perfectly summarizes the attitude of all those involved in this movement.
"Well, NBRO came up with that slogan actually. We try to host big parties after all the big races. To celebrate and blow off steam," says Anders of NBRO.
"More so in the early days, I used to go party a lot and we would always have this Sunday run with NBRO," recalls Trozzels. "And so Mike and I would go party on Saturdays, but promise each other that we would run the next day and that's how it started. Later at BTG in Denmark, it became a hashtag and that's how people saw NBRO - as this super fast but also die hard party crew that really seemed to be able to excel at both."
"Ask the Youngers in the crew," Charlie says. "I'm more on the run, relax, train, repeat vibe these days. I get my party on in different ways, unless I'm working and being paid to spin with a banging sound system, a roomful of good vibes, and a nice selection of tunes… then I'm ready to party up the place all night."
Says Jay, "Less and less. I'm getting old and boring. But the younger and new runners of the movement always keep it alive. But because running sucks, the main thing you are waiting for is when your body is full of endorphins and you arrive at the after-party. The best moment ever: you forget your pains and your shitty time and enjoy burning the dance floors with your crews. You need to not forget to have an extra t-shirt to stay dry. I always bring at least three for this kind of celebration." "I think it's all about being not too serious, but at the same time putting in your max effort and seeing improvements. It's just about having fun, and so in that way every run for us is a party." says Saes. "I don't want to say that running is not enjoyable," says Cedric. "But we're enjoying ourselves and at the same time we're also getting a work out. In-between is the fun lifestyle we've always lived and incorporating running just to keep it all balanced." THE GOSSIP PART With a large group of runners, there's bound to be a few dirty secrets. Here's some of the fun stuff (no shots fired). "It's hardly a secret - we do have the prettiest girls in the BTG movement," says Anders of NBRO. "We practice partying so we can run faster," added Trozzels of NBRO. "Excuse my French," says Jay of Paris Running Club. "I don't get that one - LOL!" "What happens at BTG stays at BTG," responded Charlie of Run Dem Crew. TOO MANY DRINKS, TOOOOOOO MANY. - AFE Tokyo Saes recalls, "When we first started Bridgerunners in 2004, Bridgerunners didn't really have a name - we're just kinda hanging out at the bars like The Hat and La Esquina, which just opened up. And I came up with Bridgerunners because Nike asked me if I had a name. So I had to think of one. The coolest runner thing I could think of was Bladerunners, so that was the original logo. About a month later, a girl came up to me and she's like ‘oh—you can't call it Bridgerunners - there's a motorcycle gang in Brooklyn!' A Motorcycle gang called the Bridgerunners and this is 2004 and they already existed and I was like ‘Ehh — but they don't RUN bridges. Like why would they pick that name? And we have a Swoosh so I'm not worried about it. And I have been worried about it ever since. I'm scared to wear my Bridgerunners jacket in Brooklyn cause a fucking motorcycle gang is gonna roll up on me. And one time I was in a nightclub and a big white bouncer stopped and looked at me and said ‘BridgeRunners? You're not a BridgeRunner!' and I was like ‘Oh - you see the Swoosh?' So that's our dirty little secret: if we have beef with any crew, they ain't runners - its' a fuckin' M.C.!" THE THERUPETIC PART "Running for me is therapy," Saes says. "It's the one day I know that I'll be with 30-40 cool people and see friends. But it's really my therapeutic time where I can think and put things into perspective and focus on my health. It really connects me to friends and cool people in my crew, we go eat and chill and talk. It's kinda grounding because during the rest of the week I hang out with all fucking kinds of people, and then Wednesdays I know I'm gonna be with healthy cool people that are energetic and inspiring. So it connects me with a different group of people that are better for me." "I think that because I came from a team sport, and I love to be around people and socializing, the people in my crew and the people from other BTG crews instantly became my teammates," says Trozzels. "Well, nowadays I mostly travel to run, for instance I just booked a flight to Tokyo in February 2016 to run the marathon. I've wanted to go there for a decade," says Anders. "It connects me to my city," says Cedric. "Because you're seeing so many things that you would never have seen just walking because you wouldn't get that far walking. And it connects me to an environment of people that do the things that I love." "It brings structure to busy minds and allows us to engage in adventure," says Charlie. "It's the common interest that we share and the key that opens doors to endless possibilities." THE TAKEAWAY PART "The beautiful thing about Bridge The Gap," Charlie continues, "is that it wasn't conceived in a boardroom and it popped up at the exact time that people started jumping on Twitter to share information. That really helped spread the message and allowed crews to connect. But when Instagram came into play, things really opened up for all four corners of the world to get involved. I've been lucky enough to see BTG develop from its very early days to the powerful force it is now, particularly in Asia where there are so many crews I've lost count." One of the most prominent Asian crews to come on the scene (though by no means the only one) is Athletics Far East, or AFE for short. Founded in July 2012, they quickly established chapters not only in their main city of Tokyo, but also in Osaka and very recently in Fukuoka. This group of beer loving, birthday-celebrating-with-cake-in-the-face group of runners has been known to make every visiting runner feel like they're in the comfort of their own home. It's been fucking amazing seeing the movement spread across the globe, and AFE is testament to BTG's appeal. "It's really family. And it's weird because it's like yea, we run at night, we're not the first people to run at night. There's been other runners that drink beer and kinda do what we do, but I think the fact that all of us come from these places and these cities and are creative and that we connect just to run with each other. That people will go to Paris to run, or Amsterdam to run, you know what I mean, just to meet up with family and I think it's amazing. It's like I'm BTG for life—it's like we have friends all over the world," added Saes. "It all came up so organically and naturally," recalls Jay. "It was a human movement before being a hashtag or a digital show off." "That energy over that first weekend will never be recaptured, but the foundations that were created when we all first met will stand strong for a very long time," says Charlie. "What can I say," added Trozzels. "It's not every day you make 20 new friendships that still last to this day." --- The global running culture continues on Instagram. To get involved peep the hashtag #bridgethegap and check out @bridgerunners @run.dem.crew @nbrorunning @paris_rc @afe_tokyo. And don't forget, the movement isn't limited to these crews, peep the hashtag and explore the vibes. It will take you around the globe.
