Pittsburgh Frontrunners had its genesis when two members of the DC Frontrunners moved to our town in 1989. Inspired by their participation in that group, they started a Pittsburgh club. At first small, our group began to attract increased interest, visitors and membership in the early 1990’s. One of the original members is still active in our group. We have sustained an average official membership of between 40 to 60 since 1998.

Our Thursday night runs were originally in Highland Park, but in 1994 we made a change, and since that time all our runs are on the beautiful trails through Schenley Park (lighting and weather conditions permitting.) Trail Pictures

We have an informal governing council of six members who are responsible for planning events, advertising and promoting our existence, maintaining liaison with the broader Gay and Lesbian community, publishing our newsletter, and maintaining this website.

We also have a relationship with the Baltimore Frontrunners, and have had exchange trips with that club for several years. Our members often have occasion to run with the progenitor DC Frontrunners each year as well, and have made special visits to Frontrunner clubs in Boston, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Cleveland, Lexington, KY, San Francisco, and many more exciting places!

The name “Frontrunners” was adopted by initial gay and lesbian running clubs from the early, somewhat dated, but still-in-print Gay & Lesbian novel, The Frontrunner, by Patricia Nell Warren.

Pittsburgh Frontrunners is an active member of our parent group, International Frontrunners (IFR), which is an informal affiliation of over 100 Frontrunner Clubs worldwide. We stay in close touch with our parent, and our members have attended IFR annual conferences in Toronto, Berlin, Philadelphia, San Diego, Sydney, and Boston.