Running does not often go hand-in-hand with drinking beer, but the combination of the two has been a surprising hit for one downtown Eagle River business.
A run club that meets Saturday mornings at Andy’s Pontoon Saloon is recruiting hundreds of people to embark on a 2-mile run or walk through the streets of downtown each week.
The gatherings are the brainchild of Andy Lichtfuss, owner of Andy’s Pontoon Saloon on Wall Street, which has become a very popular gathering spot for locals and visitors. Lichtfuss said he was “absolutely” surprised by the turnout he’s been seeing of the run club, which started in June.
He started promoting the club on social media, touting free T-shirts to those who turned out, and was met with an unexpected response. “I would have been happy to have 15 people turn out for the first one,” he said, but instead netted close to 100 people the first week of the club. July 5’s run was the pinnacle of participation drawing 220 people, which is not surprising given the number of people that were visiting Eagle River over the Independence Day holiday weekend.
Originally Lichtfuss planned to operate the run through August, but now he’s setting his sights on September, and possibly beyond. “We’ll keep doing it as long as the weather and participation allows,” he said.
Runners, joggers and walkers gather at the beer garden between 10 and 10:30 a.m. to head out for a quick gallivant around Eagle River that heads down Wall Street, back by Riverstone Brewing Company, then loops around by Trig’s before heading back to the pontoon saloon headquarters.
Lichtfuss is seeing a number of repeat runners, but many new faces each week as well. He provides free T-shirts for those joining for the first time, and the demand for the shirts has also been a surprise.
What started with an order of 250 of these free shirts has now expanded greatly. Lichtfuss placed a second order of 300 shirts, then a third for 600, and one final order to get him through the rest of the season.
“It started as just running, but it got so popular that we now have a jogging club and a walking club,” he said. Those who don’t want to commit to a full 2-mile run can instead do a 2-mile jog or 1-mile walk.
Beer, yoga and running
As a lover of craft beer as well as being physically active, the idea to marry the two passions into the run club seemed like a no-brainer for Lichtfuss. And apparently others feel the same, with the pontoon saloon’s Monday night yoga gatherings in the beer garden also picking up steam.
“I love an excuse to get up and get outside. When I moved here two years ago it was difficult to find things to do that were active and not drinking-related,” he said. “This is drinking-adjacent because obviously we are at a beer garden, but I don’t require people to buy a beer in order to take part in yoga or run club.”
Lichtfuss is an Oshkosh native but has been coming to the North Woods since he was a kid to fish. When he was 16, his family bought a place on the Eagle River Chain of Lakes, and he moved here full-time two years ago.
Pre-, during and post-Covid he spent time in places around the United States, traveling from the Midwest to Arizona to Florida and all kinds of places in between, and said he was always looking for things to do in those towns where they can get “pretty creative.”
Picking up ideas from the places he’s been, Lichtfuss has incorporated some of them into Andy’s Pontoon Saloon. For instance, the idea for the run club he saw at a bank in Nashville, Tenn.
What he’s doing is working. After a year-and-a-half in business, Lichtfuss said he couldn’t be happier with how it’s all turning out.
“We are packed — really busy all the time,” he said. “It’s a lot more fun; a lot more work than I thought it would be. But it’s A LOT more fun than I thought it was gonna be.”
Having a fantastic staff helps ease some of the workload. “My staff are rockstars,” he said, adding that his entire staff from last summer returned for the 2025 season. “We actually turned people away who wanted to work here because my whole staff came back.”
He attributes the loyal staff to the saloon’s fun environment, as well as its “really great” customers. “I think it helps that we are not a late-night bar. We close at 11, so we are not dealing with people who have been overserved and stuff like that.”
And his customer base is growing, as more strangers become friends at the saloon. “We have a lot of repeat customers. Local repeats that become regulars, then a lot of repeats now that we’ve been open for a year, who were here this week last year, and came back this week this year to hang out.”
Andy’s Pontoon Saloon serves beer, wine and seltzers that are all made in the state. He currently has 24 Wisconsin beers on tap, as well as selections in bottles and cans. He also has a beer garden menu of homemade pizzas, which people really seem to like, and giant pretzels.
Live music is offered every Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 3 p.m., along with the Monday night yoga in the beer garden and Saturday run club. The bar is open every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the kitchen is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday nights the establishment also hosts a food truck serving up Friday night fish fry.
Andy’s Pontoon Saloon is located at 220 E. Wall St.
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