“I was born the running kind,” sings Johnny Cash with Tom Petty in their cover of the 1977 song ‘Running Kind’ by Merle Haggard and The Strangers. Whereas Cash goes on to lament a man always looking for an exit, Aimee Kohler and her race organization, The Running Kind, welcome everyone with open arms. With its name inspired by the song title, kindness is the core of the organization, which has inclusivity at its heart and a mission to look after the planet. Kohler says it’s about “caring for ourselves, caring for the planet, and caring for each other.”
Aimee Kohler, founder of The Running Kind. Photo: Morgan Carroll
While many race organizations make attempts to create environmentally friendly events, Kohler places the idea of sustainability at the center of everything, and it shows. The Running Kind’s events prioritize minimizing waste and considering carbon emissions when hosting events, but perhaps the bigger impact comes not from the immediate impact of each specific event, but the fact that Kohler asks participants to think about their actions and how they move through the world, and not just through running.
A Commitment to the Environment
The Running Kind hosts carbon-neutral trail races with a community focus. The goal is to inspire, help, and encourage runners to protect the planet — including the spaces in which they run — from the effects of climate change. Kohler founded the organization in 2022, and it has already gathered a committed and flourishing following. “The community has grown a lot this year in particular,” Kohler says. “It’s a pretty strong beast now.” Throughout Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, and the Catskills in New York, The Running Kind events range in distance from five miles to 50 kilometers, offering everything from entry-level introductions to trail running to races over challenging, mountainous terrain. The Running Kind uses part of each race entry fee to buy carbon offsets to cover participants’ travel to the race. At registration, racers receive a reusable bib number that they hand back at the end of the race. The finisher’s medal might be a handmade pin. Rubbish is separated from the recycling. The Running Kind isn’t just active in the racing scene. Volunteers can also join the group for trail work events to help maintain the spaces in which they recreate.
Runners get reusable bibs that they return at the end of an event. Photo: Em Kohler
Kohler’s family and friends help organize the events. Thus, in the early days, the event was hosted by a group already interested in sustainability and climate change and drew runners with similar motives. Now, that demographic is more diverse, and Kohler believes it’s an even split of people who are there for the carbon-neutral aspect, and others who simply want to race. Kohler doesn’t miss the opportunity with the latter group, as introducing people to the sustainability messaging is one of Kohler’s favorite things. She says, “It’s cool to watch those people then become interested in [sustainability], or have questions about it.” The events encompass so much about trail racing— the challenge, the community, the vibes — but there is a greater meaning behind it.
Beginnings
Kohler and The Running Kind are indivisible. In many ways, the organization is an extension of her. Kohler started running after college in 2019 and signed up for a Spartan race to give her focus. For all intents and purposes, she caught the bug. “I thought I could be decent at this if I continued to work toward it,” she remembers. She then started working with Spartan to host events, and despite it being great work experience, she felt uncomfortable with the carbon footprint of the events. Around the same time, Kohler became vegan and started thinking more about the environmental impact of the sport. She began wondering why no one was hosting trail races prioritizing the environment, especially since the events they were holding were in the very spaces impacted by climate change. The irony proved too much, and Kohler began hosting a small 5k race series at a ski resort where she trialed the idea of buying carbon offsets. The series was a success, and with help from her friends in both sustainability and event production, she took the leap to expand the scale and scope of her events. “I decided I could do it in a different capacity that gave freedom to put out a more powerful message.” She wanted sustainability to be the whole identity of her events. And so, The Running Kind was born.
The Running Kind events place sustainability and community at their core. Photo: Em Kohler
The Running Kind’s first race nearly sold out. It was a bit of a contrast for Kohler. She was coming from hosting events with Spartan, where she was dealing with thousands of runners, and was now creating an event for just 100 people. She was also now in charge of organizing it all herself. She reflects on how she initially thought she would need assets like a timing company for the race, but as soon as she realized that all of her friends and family were keen to help, she knew she could keep it simple. Of her initial group of helpers, she says, “There was a large chunk of the crew who had never been to a trail race before.” It sounds like it should have been stressful. “It rained all day, we were dealing with all the things because we had people dealing with things that they never had before, and honestly, it went really well.” It seems brave, it seems bold, but Kohler says her biggest concern was figuring out the carbon-neutral side of things. “I kind of knew, even though I didn’t know much about it, that I would be able to figure it out as I went, and that something was better than nothing because no one else was doing anything.”
Personality for the Job
Kohler is just really cool. She’s fun, she’s friendly, she’s cool in the aesthetic and attitudinal sense of the word. It’s clear she is also just unflappable. She balances her own competitive trail running pursuits alongside The Running Kind and a full-time job as the marketing manager for a local running shop. The shop sponsors The Running Kind’s Long Run series, and Kohler says, “A lot of my close friends are on the staff, so they volunteer a lot.” Kohler’s way of harnessing her community for the good of all seems effortlessly cool. Still, spinning all of these plates means her spare time is generally minimal, and she reflects that adding anything more to her plate would be an act of bravery. It’s clear that she thrives in the environment she’s created for herself. “I love planning, I love to be organized,” she says. “But everything can be planned out perfectly, and on race day, things always happen.” Kohler isn’t deterred by things going wrong. “It’s like a puzzle. I think it’s fun to problem-solve on race day. It’s a challenge, and it’s usually nothing that can’t be solved.”
Aimee Kohler on The Running Kind’s Climb It for Climate course. Photo: Steve Maggio
This cool-headed streak is also evident in Kohler’s own running. The more technical the route, the more elevation, the better. “The [U.S.] East Coast is super rocky, rooty and technical, and muddy,” she says, “So when I got into running it was very much like, ‘This is trail running.’” Kohler grew up near the Appalachian Trail, skiing, camping, and doing other outdoor activities. She doesn’t have a traditional running background in road or track racing. “When it gets gritty and difficult, I’m a bit better at that.” Running in the mountains is where Kohler is comfortable and at home. “It’s fun to hike up and bomb down. There’s nothing better than getting to the top of a mountain and getting to hang out up there. There’s something about it that feels really powerful.”
Building Community
In addition to caring for the details of race production, Kohler is also always assessing the big picture of The Running Kind and asking the bigger questions: “How are we bringing more people into the community? How are we making sure it’s a safe space for people in the community?” This includes the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities, adaptive athletes, and individuals from lower-income backgrounds. Kohler wants to create a space that prioritizes the planet, kindness, and people. “All of those things come from who I am as a person, and The Running Kind is an extension of what I wanted and felt like was missing in the community.”
The Running Kind aims to create a community where everyone can feel welcomed and safe. Photo: Morgan Carroll
Kohler recognizes the importance of making the events a welcoming space, and she and her team actively and intentionally talk to people who show up. She says that if she doesn’t recognize someone, she makes sure to say hello and introduce them to other people. “I think that goes a long way in building a community,” Kohler says. It sounds like the very early days of humanity seeking connection, purpose, and a sense of belonging. “People are looking for that,” Kohler observes. “It’s very rare that people turn up and don’t want to talk to anyone.”
People come for the running, stay for the community, and return for the bigger purpose of sustainability and tackling climate change. Kohler says, “I think people like that it’s tied to something greater than running. So when people buy in, they’re in.” This feels important in a world where independent races may feel threatened by larger companies with more money, greater resources, and higher profiles. But those events seem worlds apart from the wholesome energy created by Kohler and The Running Kind, who keep it local. Kohler’s dad manages an aid station, her sister goes out on the course taking photographs, and her mom works hard to make sure that everyone feels welcome. Local organizations stay involved, and those living in the area come out to cheer.
The strength of local races relies on staying local, but is it possible for The Running Kind to continue growing while maintaining its roots at the same time? Given the strength of the community Kohler has built, it seems impossible that it wouldn’t.
Kohler with one of the many volunteers at The Running Kind’s Blackout race. Photo: Em Kohler
Kohler has a lot of ideas, and they all sound exciting. She’s exploring ways to have races in other areas that don’t require her to fly across the country, or even to another country. She would like Climb It for Climate — her race in the Catskills — to become a destination trail race. She’s playing with the idea of hosting a backyard ultra. Some of the races will always be small, but The Running Kind is building where it can and seeing where it leads. But wherever it goes, there’s no doubt it will be with kindness at its core.
Call for Comments
- Have you been to an event by The Running Kind? What was your experience?
- Do you have an Aimee Kohler story you could share?
A shakeout run before the Climb It for Climate race. Photo: Morgan Carroll
