HTB Run Club (Mercuria Running)

HTB Run Club meets every Wednesday at 6:30 PM at Highland Tap & Burger, 2219 W 32nd Ave, for a run that's been a neighborhood fixture since 2010. It's a year-round thing, so it doesn't stop when the weather turns. The run itself is a roughly four-mile loop through the Highlands and LoDo, with 5K and 10K options depending on how much you're feeling that evening. It's widely known as one of the best entry points for beginner runners in Denver, and it's free to join.

Coach Jenni Nettik leads the weekly sessions, and she's the one who started the club. She built Mercuria Running in 2013 on the back of 40 years of running, more than 15 years of coaching, and a decade as an educator, with a focus on running form, custom training plans, and guided runs. She's a top race performer herself: she won the 2012 Napa Valley Trail Half Marathon, finished the 2016 Chicago Marathon in the top 1% of women, and has completed the Boston, Chicago, New York, and Berlin marathons. The club has a particular following among masters runners over 40.

She isn't the only one on deck. Coach Thad Paxinos and physical therapist Lara Canham contribute running analysis and movement screening, so there's more here than just following a group around the neighborhood. The run closes with a free post-run dinner from the restaurant's kitchen, and the whole thing has a long history—it's a fifteen-year-old institution that earned a Westword award in 2012 for the 'Best Combination of Alcohol and Exercise.' Its unofficial motto says it all: 'It's not a hill, it's a ramp to get beer!'

It's free to run, with dinner and drink specials afterward. The club meets every Wednesday at 6:30 PM at Highland Tap & Burger, 2219 W 32nd Ave, year-round.