D’Ekipp: The Young Running Community Uniting Luxembourg

With the slogan “Deel vun eppes Groussem” — Luxembourgish for “Part of Something Great” — D’Ekipp sets out to prove that sport in the Grand Duchy can be social, inclusive and full of energy. Founded by four friends in 2025, the project has grown rapidly from shared runs on social media into one of the country’s most visible young community sports movements.

When D’Ekipp launched in July 2025, the idea was simple: bring people together through sport. Behind it are four friends who were already active on social media, documenting their own fitness and sporting journeys. What began as a shared passion for movement and content creation soon hardened into a wider mission.

“We realised that Luxembourg lacked opportunities for young people from different sporting backgrounds to connect, stay active and build a community together,” the team explains.

Each of the four brings something different. Bob Scholtes is a student and content creator with nearly 20,000 followers across social platforms. Kevin Stroesser-Perceval works as an educator and is active in the fitness and calisthenics scene. Wei Jiang is an entrepreneur who helps run the organisation behind D’Ekipp. Aldin Kehonjic is a science teacher and content creator who focuses on health and athletic performance through evidence-based information. Together they combine sport, organisation and storytelling into events that feel open, local and community-driven.

“Part of Something Great”

For the team, the slogan is more than a catchy phrase — it captures why the project exists at all. Luxembourg has many strong sporting communities, the founders argue, but they tend to stay separate: footballers, basketball players, runners, tennis players and gym-goers mostly keep to their own circles. D’Ekipp wants to connect them.

“For us, ‘something great’ is not about records, medals or competition,” the team says. “It is about building a large and inclusive community where people connect through a shared passion for movement and sport.” The longer-term vision is to become a platform that unites people from different backgrounds while making an active lifestyle more accessible, social and enjoyable.

Social runs, not races

Although the group initially wanted to explore a wide variety of sports, running quickly proved the most accessible starting point: it needs little equipment, can be done almost anywhere, and lets people of very different levels take part. Crucially, D’Ekipp frames its events as social runs rather than races.

Many people want to join a running event but hesitate, afraid they won’t be fast or fit enough. The collective tries to remove that barrier, designing its runs around a comfortable pace, conversation and encouragement instead of competition. “Inclusivity has always been one of the core values of D’Ekipp,” the team says. “We wanted to create events where anyone could participate, regardless of their fitness level, sporting background or experience.”

That atmosphere is not the work of the organisers alone. Experienced runners in the community, D’Ekipp says, often do the most to make newcomers feel at ease: “Most experienced runners remember very well what it felt like to be a beginner themselves. Because of that, they are often the first to welcome newcomers, encourage them and help them feel comfortable.” Watching complete beginners turn up, make connections and come back is, the team says, among the most rewarding parts of the project.

A young, Luxembourgish community

D’Ekipp’s community is noticeably young and firmly rooted in Luxembourg — something the founders say happened naturally rather than by design. Before launching, they were already making content for an audience largely made up of young people in Luxembourg, local and Luxembourgish in focus.

They also sensed a genuine gap. For all the country’s clubs and teams, there were few relaxed, community-driven spaces where people from different sports and backgrounds could simply come together, move and meet. “The strong response to our events shows that there is a genuine demand for this type of community,” the team says. “People are looking for opportunities to connect, move and spend time together in a positive and welcoming atmosphere.” While many participants are young adults, the collective says the community is becoming more diverse — the aim is not one age group but a space where everyone feels welcome.

The Day One collaboration

One of D’Ekipp’s biggest milestones so far was the Community Run x Day One on 7 June, which took participants from the Grand Théâtre to Campus Geesseknäppchen. The collaboration grew out of the group’s previous event on 10 May — its largest community run at that point — after which the founder of Day One reached out. Several meetings later, the two sides were organising the run together.

For D’Ekipp it was a major learning experience. “It showed us how important preparation and logistics really are,” the team says. “There are countless details that participants never see but that are essential for a successful event” — coordination with local authorities, route safety, registrations, food, drinks and the overall participant experience. The turnout confirmed something bigger, too. “Young people often describe Luxembourg as a quiet or even boring place, but seeing hundreds of people come together with so much enthusiasm proved the opposite,” the team says.

Behind the scenes

Organising public runs in the city involves more work than most participants realise: permissions, safety, route planning, signage, crowd management and volunteer coordination all have to come together. For the Community Run x Day One, D’Ekipp had support from the City of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Police, who escorted runners along the route on motorcycles to keep the run flowing smoothly through the streets.

The team is equally quick to credit its volunteers — friends and community members who helped with logistics, guidance, setup and coordination throughout the day, and without whom, D’Ekipp says, the event would not have been possible. “If there was one surprise, it was realising how many small details need to come together for an event to succeed,” the team says.

Putting Luxembourg on the map

Another phrase recurs in D’Ekipp’s communication: “Lëtzebuerg op d’map brengen” — putting Luxembourg on the map. For the founders, local pride means creating opportunities at home rather than assuming that exciting events and communities can only happen abroad. “People in Luxembourg often say that there is not much to do, especially for young people,” the team explains. “We want to challenge that perception.”

The Day One collaboration was a case in point. Seeing international brands, athletes and creators take an interest in Luxembourg is exactly the kind of momentum the group hopes to build. “In the future, we would love to bring even more international partners, personalities and projects to Luxembourg,” the team says.

What comes next

Looking ahead, D’Ekipp wants to keep organising community runs while expanding into new formats — tournaments, fitness challenges, yoga sessions and other community-driven events that let people discover activities together. Smaller initiatives, including yoga sessions and community gatherings, have already drawn positive feedback, a sign, the team says, that people want more than running alone. The collective also hopes to move beyond Luxembourg City, where most events have so far taken place, and to lean into the social side with picnics and gatherings.

Ultimately the goal is simple: to help more people in Luxembourg become active, connected and part of a welcoming community. “If, in a few years, D’Ekipp has helped people discover new sports, build friendships and feel that they belong to something bigger than themselves,” the team says, “then we will have achieved what we set out to do.”