One by one, runners slowed their strides to a walk under a setting sun and made a beeline to an orange cooler on a patio table at Brewhaus on the North Shore.
After completing a 5K run along the Tennessee River, water was the momentary beverage of choice.
Twenty minutes later, though, many sat sipping discounted beers, laughing with each other. For members of the local running club Running for Brews, their time together is as much about friendship as it is fitness. The group meets Wednesdays at Brewhaus on Frazier Avenue, offering amicable training accountability for runners ranging from Boston Marathon qualifiers and triathletes to the occasional fitness-seeker.
"I wanted to get back into exercise and figured this would be a great way to do it," 22-year-old Andrew Norton said moments after wrapping up his second run with the group. "It gives me an incentive."
Though running is the preferred method of transit, and 5 kilometers is the suggested distance, neither are mandatory.
"You can walk it, you can crawl it, you can sprint it, you can rollerblade it," said Susanna Kirby, a 24-year-old Baylor School graduate who is the leader of Chattanooga's Run for Brews club. The group is one of 16 in the nationwide Run for Brews network founded by another Baylor alum, John McMahan of Florida.
The official route takes participants from Frazier Avenue across the Walnut Street bridge onto the Tennessee Riverwalk and then back. But if your run has slowed to a walk by the time you return to the North Shore, or - in Stewart Wheeler's case - you're on skates, you're still eligible to receive 20 percent off at Brewhaus.
"Please do not have the assumption that wheels makes this easier," said Wheeler, the only roller-blader of about 25 participants on Wednesday.
The club is free and meets year-round, with participation ranging from 12 to 40 people depending on the weather, Kirby said. It features a mix of long-time participants, newcomers and some who show up sporadically.
Club veteran Miller Williams, 27, "fell in love" with Running for Brews about three years ago.
"It encourages me to exercise," Williams said between sips of a beer. "And also to drink."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.