b'The SOMA Fox Running Club shows team spirit in its fox onesies.Have you Spotted a SOMA Fox?Novices and veterans swell the ranks of a new, local running clubBY MALIA RULON HERMANA t 8 a.m. on a recent, frigid Sunday morning when youdAndrew Masterleo, who moved with his wife from San Francisco. He found the have been hard pressed to get most people out of bed,group by Googling running clubs in Maplewood and joined right away. more than two dozen runners gathered in a circle in theLela Moore, clad in a SOMA Fox Running Club tech tee and a glowing parking lot of the Millburn Public Library for the SOMANoxgear running vest, found the group the same way. She had been running Fox Running Clubs weekly dash up Brookside Drive. solo during the pandemic before discovering the Foxes.What made them brave the snow and 21-degree chillIts just such a great social outlet, said Moore, who recently moved to Ma-to come out and run? plewood with her family from Brooklyn. This is how I met people. People, one runner shouted.In the middle of a pandemic is when runners needed a club like this most Community, another chimed in. of all. Schools were closed. Offices were closed. Races were canceled. Suddenly, Accountability, said a third.there were a lot of local runners with a big need to run (hello, anxiety!) yet noth-I can eat whatever I want! exclaimed another.ing to train for.The runners, clad in tights and race-emblazoned pullovers, sporting GoodrThe Foxes head coach, Stephanie Shiau, was one of them. sunglasses, gaiters, sneakers, and hats of all colors, rubbed their hands togetherShe and two friends had won spots in the prestigious Berlin Marathon, which and shuffled back and forth. There were hugs and smiles all around. was to take place on Sept. 27, 2020. They had registered as a team called the Its JOMO, explained Thea Cogan-Drew, a Maplewood resident and presidentJersey Foxes. When the race was delayed, they kept running. Then other races, of the groups board of directors. Our new word. It means Joy of Missing Out. such as the Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon, also postponed The SOMA Fox Running Club (SFRC) got its start at an unusual time fortheir events.new clubs to spring up: smack dab in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.Enter Jessica Lituchy, who partnered with a friend to organize a casual, non-Now, barely a year old, the club boasts 270 membersincluding former Maple- official race on the streets of Maplewood and South Orange in December 2020 wood Mayor Frank McGeheeand three weekly runs: Sundays at Brookside;called the SOMA Fox Chase. the Wednesday track workout; and the Friday social fun run.The race included three distances10K, Half Marathon (13.1 miles) and I came to a Friday social run and that was it, said new Maplewood residentMarathon (26.2 miles)with all proceeds going to MEND, an interfaith net-18/ matters magazine / spring 2022'