Back in the winter of 2012, a few of us were sitting at a booth inside the Brickwall Tavern in Asbury Park — good food, heavy drinks, and a Jersey Shore Roller Girls match in the background — when an idea started to form. It was me (John Beck), my brother-in-law Christopher Lucania, and the Murray brothers, Michael and James. Somewhere between beers and bad jokes, we came up with the name Uptown Gentlefriends — borrowed from Anchorman, but it ended up destined for something much bigger.
At first, it was just a few friends running road races and mud runs together. But it didn’t stay that way. It grew into something unique — part running group, part creative project, part majestic absurdity.
In 2017, I started the Dash & Deciduous 5K, a trail run with equal parts grit and whimsy. It was a hit — but just the beginning.
Around the same time came the 12-hour Track Attack which then became moonflower — a 12-hour honor-system training run that started as a track challenge and found its home in the woods. It’s not a race, it’s a vibe: come and go as you please, rack up laps, share snacks, and settle into the rhythm of the day.
Then, in late 2019, came the big one — the Delaware River Loop Series. I wanted something that blended history, distance, and community — something that could get people through winter and maybe even push them further than they thought they could go. Six loops, two states, 66 miles total. It’s now the flagship of Uptown Gentlefriends and has become the first marathon or ultra training ground for a ton of runners.
UGF has never really been just a running group. It’s a mix of runners, artists, misfits, and friends — people who show up, cheer each other on, and make every event better just by being there. We’ve built finish lines out of duct tape, shared snacks out of car trunks, and somehow created something that feels more real than anything else out there.
Uptown Gentlefriends isn’t just a name — it’s an open invite.
Come run with us, or just come hang out.
But fair warning: once you do, nothing else quite compares.
Visit www.uptowngentlefriends.com for event details, results, photo galleries, and more.