This Naperville-based run club is giving 20-somethings a reason to stay in the suburbs

When it comes to finding a place to live as a 20-something-year-old fresh out of college, Naperville — aka the best city to raise a family in America — may not be the first place young people flock to.

Illinois’ third largest city may have everything from a scenic riverwalk and top-rated parks to well-known clothing brands and restaurants, but for young people just starting their adult life, finding community in the suburbs can be hard. A Naperville-based group aims to change that, one jog at a time.

Started by 23-year-old Juan David Campolargo and 24-year-old Matt Oliva, The Actual Naperville Running Club has brought together dozens of people ages 18 to 28 living in Chicago’s western suburbs.

“There’s a lot of young people here, but for some reason there isn’t really a place for people to meet each other between the ages of 18 to 28,” said Campolargo, who is also a Naperville resident. “We thought this would be something that we (would) want ourselves and maybe other people would want the same thing.”

Since starting the club in October of last year, the group has grown to about 250 members and sees anywhere between 60 to 80 people for their weekly runs.

“One thing that we’ve realized also from talking to a lot of our friends and people who are part of the club now is that a lot of people, it’s not that they want necessarily (to) move to the city,” Campolargo said. “It’s just boring here sometimes and someone needed to create … opportunities for people to meet each other.”

Origins and growth

Oliva and Campolargo attended Benet Academy together, but the two reconnected after Campolargo called Oliva last year to wish him a happy birthday.

It turned out Oliva was living in the area and the two decided to get together for a run, during which Oliva said it was challenging to meet people his age in the area.

“I told him, ‘It’s not like there are not other people our age. It’s just there isn’t a place or an opportunity for people to meet each other,’” Campolargo said. “So almost jokingly, we said, ‘What if you start a run club?’ and he didn’t think the joke was too funny because a week later, we had an Instagram account and we started.”

Since then, The Actual Naperville Running Club has become something of a saving grace for the 20-year-olds of the western suburbs.

Ian Curtis, 25, moved to Naperville from Michigan in July 2025 for work. He was itching to find new friends but struggled to find a group dedicated to young people near him. That is, until he found The Actual Naperville Running Club on Reddit last fall.

“I wasn’t really a big runner, but I was wanting to get into it, so I took the opportunity to get started and go meet some new people,” Curtis said.

When he joined, the club only had a handful of members, but those numbers started to explode in the spring. Now, Curtis said his social life has improved dramatically. Had he not found the club, he thinks he might have moved to Chicago by now and made peace with an hour and a half commute to work.

While the weekly Saturday runs are what draws people to the club, members say that the exercise is not the part that keeps them coming back.

“I think the most important part is the post-run social, and that’s why people keep returning,” Oliva said. “Post-run social could look like us going to a local coffee shop in downtown Naperville, or even one of the local bars as well, or it could also entail just a volleyball match after the run.”

At the same time, the group has gotten a bit of flak on social media for its 18 to 28 age restriction, including from one woman who missed the cut-off age by about two years. In response, she decided to start her own run club without the age restriction.

Campolargo and Oliva said that the age range was more of a guideline than a strict rule and that they even invited that woman to a run club event.

“If you design something that is for everyone, it also becomes a thing that is for no one,” he said. “So we’re creating a thing for people between these ages, so hopefully, it’s a space that they feel comfortable and safe.”

cstein@chicagotribune.com