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Moustapha Fofana has always been a runner. The Syracuse University junior often participated in Syracuse Run Club, but getting downtown wasn’t always feasible. Soon, he realized SU needed a place for students to run together on campus.

“I’ll always have people come up to me and ask me, ‘Can I run with you? What routes do you take?’” Fofana said. “I was just joking, saying, ‘I’m going to start a run club,’ but I really wanted to take it serious.”

Fofana and Duane Tilghman founded Pace Run Club, a registered student organization that hosts a community run each Sunday. The club, accessible to all running levels, has drawn over 130 participants in their first three sessions, which started after the first week of class.

This Sunday, the group hosted their first themed run: Rep Your Flag. Runners raced nearly three miles with flags draped over their shoulders or tied around their waists. Fellow runners cheered loudly as they ran. Pace’s Treasurer Mamady Keita, who held a Guinean flag, said he hopes the themes help the club to become more social.

Tilghman, an SU senior and the club’s vice president, approached Fofana, the president, with the idea for the run club at an on-campus basketball event. After getting into running at the end of his sophomore year, Fofana’s posts about Syracuse Run Club piqued Tilghman’s interest. He saw the campus need for their club, and Fofana agreed.

“I would see people running and I was like, ‘Dang, I wish we could all come together,’” Tilghman said. “It seems like there was a lack of community there.”

Soon after, the two gathered an executive board and began planning. They brainstormed multiple name ideas before settling on “Pace,” reflecting the club’s mission to create a space where all paces are welcome.

Runners take off from and return back to the Schine Student Center for each run. The runs started around 2 miles, but are moving up to 5K distance. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer

Before founding Pace, Tilghman participated in other run clubs in Syracuse and his hometown of Baltimore to gather inspiration for what to bring (and not bring) to his own club. He said he’d been to clubs where the slower, beginner-level runners get lost or separated from the group.

That won’t happen at Pace, he said. Everyone runs in groups, and you don’t have to be a seasoned runner to participate. One of Fofana’s roles is to make sure those walking in the back aren’t left behind.

“It can be really intimidating to go to a run club,” Tilghman said. “We don’t want anyone to be running alone. People should be running together with each other. We want everyone to be included.”

Before each run, the founders ask everyone to introduce themselves to at least one person they haven’t met before. Providing a community is Tilghman and Fofana’s biggest priority. Fofana said the run club can serve as a third space for runners — somewhere they can go each week to enjoy their hobby and connect with others.

Finding these places on a college campus can be difficult when most social activities revolve around alcohol or drugs, Tilghman said.

“We promote a space where students can be together, can socialize, while also doing something positive for their health,” Tilghman said. “It’s coming together for something that’s good for the overall human. Once you finish, you feel good.”

At Pace Run Club’s first event, the founders were surprised by the large turnout they garnered. Over 60 runners showed: the organizers ran out of water bottles to hand out. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer

After posting on social media, students started approaching the pair on campus, asking about the run club and when the first run would be. They realized they couldn’t wait any longer, and put a date on the calendar.

Still, when Fofana and Tilghman hosted their first run on Aug. 31, they couldn’t have anticipated the turnout they received. Sixty runners showed up, with many people the founders had never met before. They even ran out of water bottles and drinks.

It was emotional, Tilghman said. They realized a conversation on a basketball court had created something real.

“We knew it was going to be a great event when runners got to the meetup location before us,” Fofana said. “When we seen the huge turnout, it was extra fuel that we got to take this serious.”

SU senior Toyin Green ran when she was younger and has been trying to get back into the sport. Going to the gym and working out by yourself is difficult, she said. After attending all three Pace runs so far, she said they’ve provided her a community to stay motivated.

“Mentally, developing that discipline, having people cheer for you and help pace you, it’s good to be able to push yourself beyond your own capacities,” Green said.

Alaa Elhussen, the club’s secretary, said she doesn’t run regularly outside of Pace. However, her motivation to run and be a part of something bigger made her want to be a part of the club’s founding executive board, she said. It’s exciting for her to see the club come to fruition from the planning and idea stages, Elhussen said.

“It’s really nice seeing that other students just like me want to build a community to run together and hold each other accountable,” Elhussen said. “I like having the sense of community that makes me want to run and get up on a Sunday because outside of that, I’m not really going on runs.”

Tilghman designs the routes for each run. He creates routes that challenge runners while also making sure they’re comfortable. The routes take runners through familiar areas of campus and gradually increase the distance each week.

Pace started participants with two-mile runs and has been working up to a 5K race. In October, the club is partnering with the Inner Harbor 5K in downtown Syracuse. At their Sunday run, the founders encouraged members to participate in the upcoming race. They already almost did a 5K distance today, the founders said, so they might as well get a T-shirt and a medal for it.

Their goal is to make runners feel confident that a 5K distance is attainable for them. The club is a space to lift each other up, Tilghman said.

“When you look around in the crowd, there’s just straight smiles,” Fofana said.

Published on September 16, 2025 at 10:16 pm
Contact Eliana: ehrosen@syr.edu