Approximately 100 participants took part in the San Diego Girls Who Walk event held on Sunday, Aug. 7 at NTC Park in Liberty Station. The walks, which are usually held every two weeks, have been garnering more attention since they started in Mission Beach in early May.

“It’s grown every single time, which is great. I think a lot of adult women, especially millennials, will tell you it’s difficult to make friends at this age,” said event organizer and @sandiegogirlswhowalk group founder Monica Figueroa.

“Especially with the pandemic, so many women and people are working from home in general. It’s difficult because a lot of us make our friends at work and now we’re working from home. For me, I just thought it would be a really easy way for women to come together and make friends,” Figueroa said.

Figueroa was born and raised in La Mesa and attended UC Santa Cruz, working in the pharmaceutical field since finishing college. She has also traveled and lived throughout the country residing most recently in New York City where the idea for this kind of event came about.

“I lived for about three or four months in those cities,” Figueroa added. “I was trying to make friends and trying to find friends, but it was really difficult because just the apps that you have to use to find friends take so long to actually meet up with someone. I actually went to a similar group in New York City, so I tried to implement the same thing here and it’s been just as great.”

The next event location is still being decided along with the exact time and date, but it will likely be somewhere where people can bring their dogs, such as Mission Bay. “That’s generally where we’ve had most of our walks just because it has been so hot and it’s usually cool down there.”

Follow @sandiegogirlswhowalk on Instagram for more information.

PHOTO BY SOFIA FIGUEROA