photos courtesy of Frontrunners Lexington

Every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning, runners and walkers from across Lexington gather to improve their health while also building a community of like-minded people from the Athens of the West.

After their running and walking, which can range from two to six miles, they cool down by getting coffee or dinner together. For them, it’s much more about staying active. It’s about making a difference for queer people throughout Lexington and Kentucky.

Since its infancy in the 1980s, Frontrunners Lexington, a LGBTQ+ running and walking group has built up a community of queer people, while also giving back to the community.

After moving to the Lexington area in 1981 and coming out as gay, Keith Lovan had a difficult first few years adjusting to the city. He soon found several other people who shared a passion for running and were in the LGBTQ+ community like him, and in 1990 Lovan and his fellow runners traveled to Vancouver to participate in the Gay Games.

The first Gay Games were held in San Francisco in 1982, with the goal of having a sporting competition in the vein of the Olympics for the LGBTQ+ community. The 1990 games in Vancouver was the third occurrence of the games, and after meeting other LGBTQ+ runners and athletes from cities such as San Francisco and New York City, Lovan and the others were inspired to create their own athletic club in Lexington.

“We saw other communities doing grand things, and we figured that even though Lexington had a smaller gay community, we could take a shot at it,” Lovan said.

The name Frontrunners is used by many LGBTQ+ walking and running clubs across the world, and when Frontrunners Lexington started organizing, other Frontrunners clubs popped up in Louisville and Cincinnati. Members would regularly travel out of state for meets.

“I have known of several people who have found their life partners through Frontrunners,” Lovan said. “I’ve made many lifelong friends through it.”

Frontrunners Lexington Pride 5K

Connecting with the Lexington community

Lovan said that despite there being several years when Frontrunners Lexington has not been very active, he believes that the past five years have been some of the most active the Frontrunners have been in Lexington.
Most of the members of Frontrunners Lexington have previous interest in running or walking. That is the case for Sherri Tarpley Sottung, who moved to Lexington in 2006 with her wife. After retiring from the US Postal Service in early 2020, Sottung, who graduated from Temple University with a degree in exercise science, wanted to get back into running, and a mutual friend connected her with Frontrunners.

Sottung says she appreciates the camaraderie the people in Frontrunners have with each other, and how they all support and cheer on one another. When Sottung, who is one of the older members of the group, finishes a race, the other Frontrunners at the meet will wait for her at the finish line and cheer her on.

“It’s just really nice to have that group around you and have them there supporting you,” Sottung said. “We have a commonality between us, and we feel like we are safe.”

Brad Kruse-Diehr moved to Lexington a few years ago after his partner accepted a job at the University of Kentucky. Kruse-Diehr, like Sottung, became connected through Frontrunners through a mutual friend and starting walking in the group.

“There’s just such a variety in our members in terms of careers and other organizations that people are a part of. It’s just been a great way to meet people doing good work,” he said.

Since 2019, Frontrunners Lexington has been registered as a 501c3 non-profit corporation in Kentucky, began to give out grants to other LGBTQ+ clubs and organizations, awarded scholarships to upcoming LGBTQ+ college freshmen in central Kentucky and have hosted their own meet. The Frontrunners Lexington Pride Run 5K became the first in Kentucky to have a non-binary category for their run.

Outside the bi-weekly run/walks, Frontrunners Lexington also holds various other events, such as indoor cycling, bonfires and tennis tournaments aimed at promoting fitness. They also still compete in various races across Kentucky throughout the year as well, such as 5K’s, half-marathons and full marathons.

Kruse-Diehr said that it is important for LGBTQ+ communities to be tangible and connected in the modern day.

“When it comes to socialization, so much of it happens online. I think it helps to have something in person, tied to outdoor movement and activity. We need friends to support and uplift each other.”

Lovan, who still walks with the group several decades later, believes that with the current political climate, people need groups like Frontrunners to have a sense of community and to become more connected with the rest of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I think people today have a sense of the need of the community that they may not have needed 10 years ago,” Lovan said. “You learn to depend on these folks, and it just gives you a sense of belonging and support.”