PORT ALLEN — Seven years ago, Gwen Riviere was new to town and looking for a way to meet people.

She had moved to Port Allen in 2015 and spent her evenings walking the levee. She'd pass Jack's Place on South Jefferson Avenue and think about Happy's Running Club, the popular Tuesday night group that draws hundreds to downtown Baton Rouge.

"I was thinking, why can't we have something like Happy's has across the river?" Riviere said. "So I approached Glenn and I was like, 'Glenn, what do you think?' and he was like, 'Yeah.' So we just kind of went from there."

That was June 2019. Seven years later, Jack's Running Club (And Walkers!) celebrated its birthday last Thursday with burgers on the grill, cake, and the same low-key energy that's kept it going — friends, a few miles, and cold drinks at the bar afterward.

Glen Daigle, who co-founded the club with Riviere and serves on the board of directors, said the idea clicked from day one.

"We threw it out there, and it was very successful from day one," Daigle said. "It has ebbed and flowed. Sometimes we surge up to large numbers, sometimes in the middle of the winter or in the dead of the heat, it dwindles down, but we have regulars that come faithfully every week for the last seven years."

The club meets every Thursday at Jack's Place for a 3.1-mile route through Port Allen. There's no membership fee, no pace requirements, and no pressure to run at all.

"You don't have to be a star runner. You don't keep track of time," said Jill Saia, owner of Jack's Place. "A lot of people just walk."

For Saia, hosting the club has been a natural fit. She admitted she wasn't sure what to expect when Riviere first pitched the idea.

"I really didn't know what they had in mind," Saia said. "It's been a wonderful way to get to meet people. Especially if you're new to town and you don't know anybody."

The club hit a rough patch during COVID-19. Jack's Place was struggling, and the weekly runs paused for a stretch. When the group came back with social distancing, Saia started handing out alcohol popsicles to the runners. Then the kids who tagged along wanted some too — so she added kid-friendly ones. The popsicles stuck, and they've been a post-run tradition ever since.

"It's good for business, it's good for the community," Saia said.

For Riviere, the numbers have never been the point.

"We have a small dedicated core," she said. "We've been told people have met each other, that we're neighbors who had never known each other before, and now they're good friends. And we walk in here, and we know everybody."

When asked what keeps people coming back, Riviere and Daigle answered the same way.

"The friendship," Riviere said.

"I think it's just the sense of community and family that we have developed over here with our group," Daigle said.

Jack's Running Club (And Walkers!) meets every Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at Jack's Place, 102 S. Jefferson Ave. in Port Allen. All paces welcome. Popsicles included.