Books and Brawn
- Feb 13
- 9 min read
Bringing Literature and Fitness Together to Create Community
Across the country, readers are lacing up their sneakers alongside their bookmarks, reshaping the long-held stereotype that books belong indoors and workouts belong elsewhere. From Chicago running tours inspired by neighborhood memoirs to Boston fantasy-themed boxing classes and suburban forest walking clubs built around audiobooks, a growing movement is blending literature and physical activity into communal, story-driven experiences.
We’ve also seen the high school movies that often pit the “Nerds” against the “Jocks.” Popular culture has often painted literature and fitness as polar opposites. The former are seen as sedentary and quiet, while the latter is seen as active and energetic. But many people have long enjoyed reading and physical activity, though usually separately.
Now, people across the United States are bringing the world of literature and fitness together in fun and innovative ways, such as running clubs, walking book clubs, and even aerobics/Pilates/barre. These groups have offered opportunities for people to get better acquainted with the city they live in, meet people, and get some fresh air and exercise.
Parlor Magazine talked to the founders of a few groups bringing together the world of fitness and literature in one event.
Read & Run Chicago
Allison Yates, founder of Read & Run Chicago and the owner of Read & Run Tours, had been rethinking her life during the pandemic lockdown. She realized that despite living in Chicago for over three years, she had very few positive feelings for the city. To counteract that, she began reading more books about the city. At the same time, she took up running again, but also felt disconnected from the running community and its focus on times and statistics.
Yates found herself running towards the places she was reading about and realized that other people might feel the same way. “I think people would feel really connected to each other and a lot more connected to the city, like I was starting to feel,” Yates said. There was something about running towards an inconspicuous warehouse or a random street corner that had some meaning in a book she had read. “I'm so inspired by the idea that people live lives within these otherwise seemingly boring spaces. There's so much meaning that surrounds us; we just have to know how to look for it,” Yates said. Thus Read & Run Chicago was born in 2021.
The general set up for these running events is that there will be a chosen book and an area of the city featured in the book. People generally try to read the book before the run. During the event, they run in an area that is featured in the book and have discussions in between running.
Yates selects books that feature Chicago as a central character or the characters’ stories intertwined with the physical space of the city. For instance, one of classic events is the Book Club Run of Three Girls from Bronzeville by Dawn Turner, which details the author, her best friend, and her sister’s lives growing up in the Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville. “Their entire lives were colored by these three square miles,” Yates said. The work explores how they interacted with the city’s policies, public housing, and generally how this physical space created these women in very different ways. That three mile area is where Read & Run Chicago places the event.
Since the group often features Chicago-based writers, sometimes the authors even come along. For instance, the recent Three Girls from Bronzeville event had author Dawn Turner in a meet and greet after the run.
Martha Bayne, editor of the Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook and senior acquisitions editor for regional trade books at the University of Illinois Press, had the opportunity to attend one of the first Read & Run Chicago events that featured the Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook that she edited. She did not even know it was happening until she saw the event posted online. The events were mini-runs that focused on different essays in the book. “It was so cool,” Bayne said.
Bayne decided to reach out to see if Yates would be interested in Bayne participating in one of the runs. Yates invited her along to a mini-run in South Loop, based on Megan Stielstra’s chapter, and even introduced Bayne at the end of the event. In the event, they jogged to places mentioned in the essay where they would stop and Yates either read from the essay or asked fun trivia facts. Bayne described it as a great event, and a nice alternative to bookstore events.
Since 2021, Yates formed the Read & Run Tours, an LLC that now is the umbrella organization for Read & Run Chicago in 2023. People in other cities can apply to use the format Yates created and trademarked. Currently two people have been running their own Read & Run Tours in DC and Seattle. Yates mentioned that it’s important to have people supporting their local community, which includes authors and local businesses. In addition, Read & Run Chicago has also hosted other events including author readings, book swaps and more, but the focus has been on the runs. They’ve also started a membership program for folks who come often.
Yates said that people really enjoy the events. They see a lot of repeat participants; some who come practically every time, while some drop out and come back. Over the years, they’ve had about 500 unique participants, with some coming back frequently and others who only come once. She said, “people continually say [that] one of the most magical things about [the event] is how thoughtful and kind everyone who comes to these events is. I don't have many rules for people, except for don't be mean. Besides that, everybody else is welcome.” It’s very gratifying seeing how people have come together with the events over the years and created a sense of community with one another.
Fit for Fiction
Carly Youssouf, founder of the Boston-based Fit for Fiction and freelance editor/writer, found another way to bring literature and fitness together. She’s created book themed workout classes that involve everything from yoga, boxing, barre, and dance, all tied to a book or book genre.
For Youssouf, she had always loved literature and fitness, but couldn’t find a lot of people who felt the same way as her. She wanted to find people who loved working out and discussing books.
“It started from a very personal place,” Youssouf said, “I do think that readers in general are really adventurous and really imaginative, and if given the space to feel comfortable in a fitness setting, I think they would really thrive. But a lot are introverts or don't feel comfortable in a weight room.” So she wanted to create a space for people to feel comfortable in fitness classes.
Youssouf posted the idea to TikTok to see if people would be interested. The response was very clear: yes. So in October 2025, she held her first class, which snowballed from there, she said.
With the slogan “Train like a Main Character,” Fit for Fiction offers fitness classes designed around a genre or a popular book or franchise, like The Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games or Bridgerton. Fantasy is her biggest seller. In January, Fit for Fiction hosted “A Song of Arms on Fire: Dagger Sculpt” where participants worked out with dagger dumbbells from Dragon’s Edge to an appropriately epic soundtrack. They also hosted Lord of the Ringside where people could try boxing with a LOTR theme.
Right now, Youssouf is partnering with local gyms where she handles the literary side of the event and they work on the fitness aspect. She creates an appropriate playlist; provides the instructor with bookish language to encourage folks during the workout, and brings in some other components. Thanks to TikTok, she ended up connecting with Dragon’s Edge, a company that makes dragger shaped dumbbells owned by founders Dennis and Emily Balajadia, and several fantasy classes include these unique dumbbells.
Youssouf also attends the classes and helps to facilitate the event, helping to hype the participants up. She also brings snacks, tries to get people who want to socialize to talk together, and sometimes brings themed bracelets. She’s even created a sort of narrative story for some workouts with recorded narratives during the workout breaks.
It’s important that the classes are open and stress-free. She does not want the classes to be another source of pressure, but just a fun thing that people can do together. “A lot of these people haven't worked out in years, or haven't tried this type of workout, and that's a lot to ask somebody to try that new thing with a whole group of people,” Youssouf explained, “A lot of these women are coming by themselves, and that's enough of an ask.”
People have been excited about the events. Youssouf said, “I keep getting messages from people asking: ‘How do I do this in my own state?’ Or say, ‘I wish this was here,’ which is just like the loveliest response. I didn't imagine it would happen.” She believes that the combination of the endorphins from working out and talking about books” has been the secret sauce for her success.
Currently, she’s working to expand offerings with other companies to create social events, local book getaways, or even incorporate classes into book events. She’s hoping it will bring more people who want to try new things, like new workouts, or even find new books or genres.
Ultimately, the core mission of Fit for Fiction is “reading as widely as we work out,” Youssouf said, “Reading and fitness complement each other so beautifully, because they are two forms of escapism because reading is where we go to feel things safely, and working out is where we go to express those feelings safely. I really want to foster a space where everyone feels really comfortable in their skin.”
Walking Book Clubs
In addition to running clubs and literary-themed workouts, walking book clubs have also appeared across the country. Organizers like Michael Curtis and Morgan Menzies have found unique ways to run events particular to their locations.
Michael Curtis, director of adult services for Yorkville Public Library in Yorkville, IL, came up with the idea of the Roaming Readers Walking Book Club in 2021. In his role creating adult programming, he noticed that people wanted more book clubs and more health and wellness events. Since Yorkville is at the edge of suburbia, it has 4-5 forest preserves with excellent walking trails. He decided it might be a great idea to bring the world of books and health together in a walking club. At the time, there was a lot of discussion about forest bathing, mindfulness, so “it seemed like a no brainer,” Curtis noted, to create a walking book club.
However, the book club component had to be modified from your typical club, since walking and talking as a big group was not going to be easy. Instead of having everyone read a specific book, people read whatever they want and break up into small groups of 2-3 to talk about the books. The first part of the walk often focuses on what people are reading now the second part is talking about what people might want to recommend to their fellow book club walkers.
Usually, the walking book club events are the first and third Fridays of the month, though they took December and January off since those were less attended. Generally a revolving cast of 6-8 people come to each event, which is notable given how small Yorkville is.
Morgan Menzies, literary event curator, co-founder of Book It Around and founder of Pages on the Path, took another approach to a walking club using audiobooks in Book It Around (BIA). Based in Washington, DC, co-founders Menzies and Kit Ballenger realized they both enjoyed reading, hiking and the outdoors. They thought about bringing these concepts together and adding in a community aspect. Menzies had been running literary community events through her Pretty Little Bookshelf Instagram page, such as silent reading events or Q&As with authors.
Book It Around would bring that outdoor element and get people to go outside. It was meant to be low pressure for people who wanted to incorporate more fitness in their lives and enjoyed reading. They hosted their first event in March of 2025, however she and Ballenger have parted ways with the event.
The idea with Book It Around is that people listen to audiobooks of their choice while they walk. Menzies explained that towards the end of the walk, there are opportunities for folks to talk about their books. “We often find that some people are listening to the same books, and so that's exciting. They can share what part they are at and what they think of certain characters or the plot. It's a really special opportunity to connect,” she said.
Like the other fitness literature events, people have responded well. Depending on the weather, about 30 to 60 people come once to BIA, which occurs once a month. Menzies noted, “We've had people where they are coming month after month, so they're truly getting to know each other and fostering relationships.”
She’s planning another social club called Pages on the Path. It will also have the audiobook component, but it will include visiting museums together, painting or undertaking a hobby together. It’s a way for people to engage with one another, even if it’s just sitting next to someone while creating. She thinks that people are seeking alternatives to screens and Brain-Rot, through engaging in analog activities.
Menzies concluded: “I think overall that this trend is here to stay. I don't think it'll be short lived. I love to see that people are excited to read and also get outdoors and be active and find community. So I think this is the perfect combo for people for 2026 and onwards.”
So if you want to find a way to bring together your love of reading and physical activity, there may be a walking or running book club near you.
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