As Patrick Chaves crossed through the Pilsen neighborhood during the 2023 Chicago Marathon, he was struck by the sights and sounds of Latino pride — the food, the music, the cheers.
“The music is loud, the people are loud, the food smells fantastic. It’s just the overall vibe,” he recalled. That energy became the inspiration for Buena Tierra Run Club, a Milwaukee-based, Latino-focused community running group that now draws hundreds of participants every week.
Buena Tierra — meaning “good earth” — will celebrate its second anniversary on November 5, 2025, with an event at Zócalo Food Park. Supported by Altra Running, the celebration marks two years of steady growth, inclusion, and empowerment. Chaves, who was named one of Wisconsin’s Most Influential Latino Leaders by Madison365 in September 2025, said the club’s success stems from “representation that matters to a lot of people, especially people of color.”
From Corporate Sales to Community Engagement
By day, Chaves serves as the Community Engagement Coordinator for Milwaukee County Parks’ South Region, overseeing 60 parks across predominantly Latino neighborhoods. “My job is to be the liaison between the public and the administration and vice versa,” he said. “That looks like anything with public projects, public input, working with the friends groups that are pretty much the mini nonprofits within each park.”
Before joining the Parks Department, Chaves spent 18 years in retail management and four more in corporate sales. “I love engaging with community, talking with people, getting people’s stories, and connecting others,” he said. “Community engagement kind of just called out my name.” The move from corporate to government work was “a culture shock,” he said, but one that helped him discover a deeper sense of purpose.
Born in New Orleans, Chaves came to Milwaukee at 13 after his family was displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
The Birth of Buena Tierra Run Club
Chaves founded Buena Tierra while still working in corporate sales, seeking connection in a post-pandemic world.
“A lot of us millennials who experienced COVID at the height of our career were trying to figure out how to get that sense of community,” he said. Having been part of another Milwaukee run club for years, he realized his city’s South Side lacked a space that felt culturally representative.
“I came up with this idea about starting this predominantly Latino Run Club,” he said. Partnering with Carter Robinson and Jesús Hernández — co-founders of the Black and Brown Run Around 5K — and his wife, he launched the first Buena Tierra meetup on November 8, 2023. “Literally the next day I created a very lame logo and Instagram page,” he laughed.
From there, the club took off. “We’ve just been going and not stopping and growing tremendously and so organically,” Chaves said. “When you see people like yourself doing something out of the ordinary, you’re like, ‘Oh, what’s that about?’ And then you try it.”
Today, the nonprofit hosts weekly runs with 200 to 300 members participating across multiple days. There are no membership fees, and all leaders are volunteers. “We want people to come as they are,” Chaves said. “If they want to walk a half mile, just so be it. Come on back and partake in the community.”
Changing the Narrative Around Fitness
For Chaves, running started as a personal outlet. “I’m not even close to an athlete by any means,” he said. “I turned to fitness overall. First I started with lifting, then I went to kickboxing, and then found out about running races, and I kind of enjoyed it.” Now, he helps others find the same balance between physical and mental wellness.
“Representation matters,” he said. “We’re really trying to change that narrative of what the racing culture is, who it’s for — and it’s for everybody.”
Buena Tierra runners now participate in major local events like the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, where the club fielded 56 runners in 2025. Many of whom completed their first 5K, half marathon, or full marathon that day.
Looking Ahead
As Buena Tierra approaches its second anniversary, Chaves envisions a long-term goal of creating a permanent community fitness hub.
“We would love to have a space, a building, a brick and mortar, where we can have people come and meet a coach, meet a nutritionist, talk about their goals — again, no cost or low cost,” he said. He also hopes to expand youth and elder programming, providing tailored fitness opportunities for all ages.
“We’re all volunteers,” he said. “It’s a lot of time dedicated to this, but that is the five to 10 year goal — to have a building. We envision that still in Milwaukee.”
For Chaves, it all comes back to community — the foundation of both his professional life and his passion project. “When I say Run Club, it’s not just me,” he said. “It’s me and my three founders … but the reason why we’re so big is really not what we do at a leadership level. It’s because of the community. Everybody has a story, everybody has a journey, and we’re doing it together. That’s the beautiful part.”
