Today we’d like to introduce you to Dena Lewis
Hi Dena, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Dena Lewis, and I’m the founder of Running Mate.
Over my 20-year experience as a long-distance runner, I’ve been harassed countless times and assaulted twice.
In 2010, I was on a usual run in the middle of the day while my kids were at school and my husband was at work. On a sidewalk in a crowded area, I was grabbed and assaulted by a man. Like many women, I didn’t report my incident for various reasons. Three days later, this man showed up on my doorstep late at night. He was caught and arrested but released. I became a statistic and stopped running at the time.
Safety for women while running or walking is a major issue that frequently makes the headlines. 60% of female runners are harassed while running, and 92% of women are concerned for their safety when running.
This inspired me to create the RunningMate app to make outdoor running more accessible and safe. Our real-time, on-demand app matches verified safe mates with runners when the runner is ready to go. Both Runners and Mates must pass background checks to ensure safety. Think of us as the uber for runners
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Bringing a two-channel platform to market for someone who doesn’t have a tech background has proven to be one of the biggest challenges I have faced.
The other struggle is that I never expected to share my story and wanted to keep it private. However, this struggle has healed me and others along the way. I now know my purpose in life and need to turn this bad experience into something good.
As we have launched in different markets and met fellow runners, I have learned I am not alone in this experience. All the challenges of building a business have become part of the mission and journey.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Running Mate is a real-time, on-demand app that matches verified safe mates with runners when the runner is ready to go. To continue building a profile, all users on the platform must pass a background check.
Think of Running Mate as the Uber for running partners. After downloading the app, onboarding is easy.
When you are ready for a run, click “Find a Mate” and search based on your location.
Then, you can set your pace and distance if you want to wear headphones.
Running Mate will show you the mates available in the area, and you can select the Mate after reviewing the profiles.
The Mate comes to you, and the app shows the map in real time (like Uber). The Runner can leave a tip and/or review when the run is complete.
Our target Runner is a woman who runs between 3 and 5 miles a few times a week and prefers to run outdoors. We see a significant opportunity for female travelers in unfamiliar cities.
The mates make a flat fee on each run. We have launched in initial cities with a large and active running presence and where safety is a concern.
According to LiveScience, there are drastic benefits between running outdoors vs. a treadmill.
Training outdoors is proven to aid with anxiety and depression thanks to views of terrain and nature while adding altitude trains the lungs and heart to increase output and strengthen bones – all of which a treadmill lacks.
Gym treadmills, running coaches, social media meetups, and running groups are considered competitors to RunningMate. Although, none provide on-demand scheduling, safety, optionality in distance and pace, and skill matching within a single platform like us.
Running coaches can cost $50-200 per session and require advanced scheduling. The average gym membership ranges from $150-400 per month, limits you when you travel if not part of a national chain, and requires additional commute time.
Social media meetups and running groups take coordination to various locations – and individuals are not background-checked or verified before meeting – making safety a major issue. Our app performs background checks on Mates and runners, recommends someone with a similar skill level, books on-demand without long-term commitments, and more, with safety as our #1
priority.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Running Mate has launched in 7 cities across the US and growing.
As we launched in different markets, we realized there was much more work to do. The Female Runner Safety Summit was created by our founder, Dena Lewis, to educate and train runners to learn how to be safe and more situationally aware while exercising outdoors.
We travel around to events, conferences, universities, and run clubs, and provide safety tips, education, and self-defense tips to attendees. We have partnered with other companies with safety as part of their mission to ensure we can bring proper information and tools to keep all runners safe.
This has increased trust and value to our mission since we are actively working to keep women safe.
Pricing:
- $25 flat rate for 1-5 miles; $35 flat rate for 5+ miles
- Mates make a flat rate of $10 or $15 depending on distance
- We are working on a class pass model
- Our ultimate goal is to form partnerships with companies that would like to advertise on our platform so we can offer Running Mate for free to all users and still be able to pay the mates for their time and service
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.getrunningmate.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getrunningmate/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/getrunningmate
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getrunningmate/?viewAsMember=true
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@runningmate7242
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dena-lewis-a9546a24/
