By Carmen K. Chan
Graphic design by Qingyue Guo
A clear blue sky, afternoon sun, and 19°C weather on May 4th, 2026 marked the start of the Institute of Medical Science Student Association (IMSSA) Running Club, hosted by the IMSSA Wellness and Sporting subcommittees. After a frigid winter, a group of students in the Institute of Medical Science (IMS), both familiar and new faces, met outside the University of Toronto Medical Sciences Building for a casual run to welcome the start of the summer semester.
From novice runners to experienced athletes, all skill levels were welcome. This inclusivity is reflected in the run club’s motto: Your direction matters more than your speed.
The group set off at a breezy, conversational pace that kept everyone together. As with many graduate student events, conversations about programs, research projects, and professional goals quickly emerged. Along the route, discussions about upcoming deadlines and medical school applications naturally shifted to stories about pets, hobbies, and life outside of academia.
A sense of community and camaraderie formed along the route. When someone needed a walk break, others walked with them while encouraging them to keep going. Rather than focusing on setting new distance or pace records, these runs create a space to connect in-person with fellow graduate students outside of the lab and classroom.
These kinds of environments are referred to as “third places,” a term coined by sociologist Dr. Ray Oldenburg. In contrast to home (a “first place”) and work (a “second place”), third places are neutral grounds where people gather to build informal communities, such as cafés, gyms, libraries, parks, and theatres.1 Considering this, third places are important for connecting with people both similar to and different from us.2 However, social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in years of remote work and learning, merging first and second places while significantly limiting access to third places.
The absence of third places is particularly noticeable in graduate school. Busy schedules make it difficult to meet people on a different floor of the same building, let alone at different research sites. It becomes easy to develop tunnel vision for our programs, projects, and deadlines, leaving little room for our identities outside of academia. Third places like the IMSSA Running Club create opportunities to connect through shared experiences with peers who may be navigating many of the same challenges and experiences. While we are all scientists and students, beyond research and coursework, conversations along the route also centred around newly adopted pets and hobbies like Pilates. In this way, the IMSSA Running Club offers both the benefits of exercise and a small oasis from experiments, paperwork, and deadlines.
Gentle breeze, cherry blossoms in bloom, and the city coming back to life after a long, gloomy winter captured the first run led by the IMSSA Running Club. Each step forward was a reminder that graduate school does not have to be a solitary journey.
Join the IMSSA Running Club every Monday at 6PM in front of the Medical Sciences Building!
References
1. Oldenburg R. The Great Good Place: Cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group LLC; 2023.
2. Roberts-Ganim M. Third places: What are they and why are they important to American culture? [Internet]. University of Chicago; [cited 2026 May 15]. Available from: https://esl.uchicago.edu/2023/11/01/third-places-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-important-to-american-culture/
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