Run Club Chronicles: Bambas
The Run Club Chronicles
Bambas, an Amsterdam-based Sports Club, is more than just a group of runners. It’s a space for growth, connection, and community—a place where individuals not only connect with each other but also deepen their connection with themselves. Bambas transcends the traditional concept of a Sports Club, fostering a collective of creatives, passionate individuals, and hard workers who inspire one another. Born out of friendship, grown into a community of like-minded individuals.
You’ll spot Bambas runners lighting up the streets of Amsterdam during their weekly runs, a community that thrives on the joy of the moment. Their presence is felt at major events like The Hague Half Marathon and, of course, in their home city, Amsterdam.
This year, Bambas has experienced tremendous growth, welcoming more members into its vibrant culture. What makes Bambas unique is their unwavering commitment to their values and staying true to their roots. They have cultivated a culture that inspires and uplifts, becoming a beacon for running communities across the Netherlands.
At Vaert, we knew we had to connect with Bambas. As a Sports Club that has shaped and enriched running culture in the Netherlands, they were the perfect fit for our Run Club Chronicles. It was an incredible opportunity to touch down at our home base and explore the essence of Bambas.
Enjoy this dive into the heart of Bambas—where running meets creativity, passion, and authenticity.
Please, introduce Bamba’s to us!
Bambas started couple + years ago through a bunch of friends getting together to run post pandemic, after looking for a community driven club and not finding one in Amsterdam. With no intention to build nor create anything, the Bambas movement started in the most organic way possible. A few months in, with more and more friends joining out of word of mouth, everything communicated through a whatsapp group and an instagram profile called MMM (Mathieu, Matty and Mateo, the three friends that came up with the idea), the running trend started to make an appearance in Amsterdam. In no time, we had 30+ people, consistently showing up.
The friends group became a community. The community started asking for socks, stickers and similar stuff, which led us to think about a name. From the name came the rest of the identity, which is now Bambas Sports Club. From there we started surfing the wave, organizing all sorts of events, trips and adventures, giving the Bambas community what they wanted. If we were to pick one element that makes Bambas different from any other clubs, or groups, it's the depth and authenticy of our brand and identity. Bambas is trend agnostic, we are obssesed with staying authentic and true to who we are, simply because that's what resonates with our community. You won't see Bambas doing "Run clubs are the new dating apps" type reels. Bambas won't be seen creating content under the specifications of any brand or partner. We do things our way and our way only.
You already have some amazing collaborations with Satisfy and Distance; how do these inspire Bamba's culture?
Satisfy and Distance are incredible brands, that are currently redefining the running space, but most importantly the teams and the people behind both brands are exceptional humans. At Bambas we are not only inspired but driven by brands and partners such as Satisfy or Distance. Brands like that set up a benchmark and keep spaces like ours on the run to constantly try and deliver qualitative content and experiences that match theirs. Despite of the significant differences and the individuality of our different approaches to running and movement, brands/spaces like Bambas, Satisfy and Distance, are aligned on the fundamentals. The running space is changing, runners want something different, and we are platforms trying to accomodate what the new generation of runners want, that's why inevitably, our paths overlap from time to time.
The CPC Half Marathon in The Hague is just around the corner.
The Hague half marathon is an excellent race. For us community is at the center of everything, and the race in the Hague is the perfect place to get our people together for a great day of racing, across all levels. It's a super easy race for us to attend as a team, all levels can give the distance a go, and it creates an exceptional bond within the community right at the beginning of the year. You can count on Bambas to be there every year.
Congrats on Bamba Magazine No. 1! How was it to create this, and what was the inspiration behind it?
Certainly one of the most important projects of 2024. Putting together a magazin it's an unbelievably tedious process, specially if we are looking at something a little bit more high end than your regular weekly mag. Shoutout to Brogan Writght and Blair McIntosh for an exceptional piece of work, that resonated internationally. Back in March 24' we kicked off the conversation around the idea of a magazine, as a platform to tell Bambas' story to a broader audience. Bambas is a space full of absolutely astonishing creators, photographers, editors, copywritters, musicians, you name it. They are the ones behind Bambas' growth and success over the past year. We wanted to celebrate them, show the world that the power of community is real, and the mag is proof of it. Bambas ISSUE#2 is on its way, we will take a slightly different approach to its execution, but the mission is the same, taking the Bambas story and its people everywhere, hoping to inspire any felow creators to get out there and show the world what they are capable off.
How do you integrate the values of Bamba into your runs and events?
We could go on and on, but it's quite straighforward. If it doesn't bring value to the community, we won't do it.
How does the crew stay motivated during tough winter months or challenging weather conditions?
Most of us don't see Bambas as a running club. Most of us in fact, see Bambas a space for growth and connection with ourselves. We are a bunch of people that find in sport a source of inspiration and a catalyst to become the best versions of ourselves. When u are looking for something deeper than just a quick workout, the weather doesn't necessarily matter, and I believe that's key to our consistency. On top of it, over time we have beens so consistent that we have created a momentum that is hard to stop. Everybody knows, that on Wednesday's, at 1900, Bambas will be there, at the usual Vondelpark spot, rain or shine. Consistency creates momentum, and momentum beats the need for motivation.
What’s next for Bamba’s Sports Club in Amsterdam? Are there any exciting plans or upcoming events?
2025 will be about the same thing that we did in 2024, but better and bigger. In 2024, we delivered above expectations we could have not even imagined. Our community wants more, more challenges, more events, more races and specially more moments to celebrate Bambas' culture. That's going to be our focus this year, more moments of meaning and connection to keep elevating the community to new heights. We have a few big moments lined up, first one coming up is the CPC 1/2 mara in The Hague, followed by the celebration of our anniversay in May, and the Amsterdam Marathon weekend which has always been huge for our people. I hope you are all wearing sunglasses, because 2025 is looking bright.
What advice would you give to runners who might be hesitant to join a Sports Club due to nerves or intimidation?
Bambas is for everyone, we've all been there and people it's part of our DNA. Take into consideration however, that once you try it, there's no way back.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank every single person that has contributed to landing 2024, it was an absolutely exceptional year and we are so grateful for the community driving this movement forward. Last but not least, we'd like to trully thank all of our partners for believing in us, fully, and enabling us to live our dream our way.
