Kidney Runners

A Running Community & Support Group for Kidney Runners

Kidney Runners is a running community and support group for kidney recipients, donors, caregivers, and CKD runners who all love to run. Kidney Runners connects kidney recipients, donors, caregivers, their family and friends, and CKD runners, with others who have similar experiences as you.

Connect with Kidney Runners who live nearby or who share a similar kidney connection as you. Search for anyone in our community based on any connection you're looking for. Connect with and chat with anyone online, or find local connections to meet for a run or just coffee.

My Introductory Post on Kidney Runners

Hello, my name is Tom O'Keefe and I am the founder of Kidney Runners. Since my kidney transplant on January 10, 2024, I've been looking for a community where I can connect with kidney recipients, CKD runners, and kidney donors who, like me, love to run.

I've built this community for anyone with a connection to kidney disease: kidney recipients, kidney donors, a caregiver of someone with CKD, individuals currently experiencing CKD or dialysis, and family and friends of kidney recipients, donors, and CKD runners.

My hope is that we can connect online, and then meet offline for a run or coffee. Our member search is very powerful enabling you to search for other Kidney Runners by any criteria you choose. I encourage you to find other Kidney Runners in your city and go for a run with them. Post your group run time and location in the Group Runs space on your left so other members can join you too.

For the first couple of months my focus is to build the member directory of this community. If you know someone who would be a good fit for Kidney Runners then please invite him/her to join. Once we have more members than just me, I'll start hosting weekly video calls where we can meet face-to-face and tell our story.

As for me, I'm the founder of a non-profit running organization called Stride for Stride based in Boston, Massachusetts. On January 10, 2024, I received a kidney transplant from my Stride for Stride teammate, Jorge Rosales. Ten months later, Jorge and I ran the 2024 NYC Marathon together on November 3, 2024. Five months after that, Jorge and I ran the 2025 Boston Marathon together. I followed up with the Chicago Marathon in October 2025, and the London Marathon in April 2026. You can read my story in the book, Why I Run, linked on the left.

The picture is of Jorge and me ten months after our transplant during the NYC Marathon. To everyone in this community who is a kidney donor - you are a superhero. Thank you! And for anyone in this community who is undergoing chronic kidney disease - you got this! Don't give up. And for the caregivers in this community - we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you!

I look forward to meeting everyone in this community. Please message me if I can help, provide advice, go for a run, or simply chat.

All the best to you,

- Tom O'Keefe