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3 (Completely Unscientific) Reasons Runners Talk So Much About Running

trending topics May 17, 2021

Runners are a pretty unique group. If you regularly find yourself saying things like, “I can’t tonight because I have a long run in the morning,” or “Sure, 5:30 isn’t too early to meet for hill repeats,” the sport has no doubt changed you in some deep and profound way. (And if it hasn’t, let’s talk. I have questions.)

 

We come from all walks of life and cover all paces and distances, but what unites us is our mutual love for pounding the pavement. Although science hasn’t been able to define with any certainty the personality traits we runners share, it’s pretty clear most of us have a few of these in common: passion, perseverance, self-discipline, confidence and grit.

 

We also seem to trend toward the competitive. We love one-upping each other in race-day port-a-potty horror stories and comparing our personal-best times. It also isn’t terrible when we get a chance to humble-brag about the 12-miler we just ran or explain that the reason we’re turning down that second glass of wine is because we have a tempo run tomorrow.

 

There may be no scientifically proven reason for it, but the fact is, we runners love to talk about running — sometimes to the annoyance of the non-runners around us.

 

3 (completely unscientific) reasons runners talk so much about running

 

  • We love it.

 

Do you know someone who had a baby and then proceeded to talk about nothing else for months? (Can’t imagine anyone’s saying no here.) Yet it’s with good reason parents talk so much about their new addition. When they have a baby, especially their first, parents’ worlds are drastically and permanently changed, and they’re a little obsessed with this new tiny person who’s taking up so much of their time and energy. Running and babies may make strange bedfellows, but they’re not so different in terms of the effect they can have on us.

 

  • It’s addicting.

 

Maybe you started with a gateway race — just signing up for a fun 5K with friends, you claimed — and a few months later you find yourself a watch-wearing, GU™-guzzling, medal-chasing lifelong devotee. There may not be any proof, but there definitely seems to be a correlation between number of miles logged and increasing devotion to the sport.

 

  • It’s made us better.

 

Possibly the least scientific reason of all is the one that also seems to ring the truest. You can’t run for weeks, months or years on end and not have it alter your life. And you wouldn’t stick with it for that long if it didn’t change your life for the better. Maybe you found a group of friends through running and you’re forever grateful for them. Maybe you found a way to get and stay healthy that you didn’t have before. Maybe running helps you relieve stress and you could never part with it now that you’ve discovered that outlet.

 

No matter the reason, running is now your thing, and you want to share that passion and the effect it’s had on your life with those around you. So, share it. Again, we runners are a pretty unique group, and our passion for the sport runs deep. It’s a love affair forged in miles logged before sunrise, races run alongside friends, and medals signifying the milestones we’ve met along the way. It’s a combination of passion, determination, self-discipline, confidence and grit—all rolled up in one messy but beautiful ball. It’s something we do that’s made us better, and why wouldn’t that be something to shout from the rooftops?

 

Now get out there and run your life.

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