Why Do Runners Even Run?

Running: What's your motivation?

If you’ve avoided exercise in the past – for the logical reason of trying to avoid high amounts of pain – you’ve probably come across someone who seems to be an exercise freak. You don’t understand how they can simply plug into their iPod and just lose themselves in minutes and hours of simple physical exertion. After all, those people don’t really look that happy, and while they may be fit, what’s the point of it all?

Any runner will tell you that the answers aren’t so easy, especially the longer they prefer to run. Answering the “why” for them will be as difficult as getting you to explain why you indulge in your favorite passions. You don’t have a “reason,” you simply find that following your passions brings you the greatest amount of joy.

Running isn’t easy, either. This gets to the crux of the question: we know that running can be beneficial towards your health, but is it really worth the essential pain and grit of it all? Runners will tell you it is, but they probably won’t be able to convince you to feel the same.

The truth is, even for runners, it’s not always easy to lace up and head out. Sometimes runs can be thrilling and exhilarating, but the vast majority of the time, they are hardly enjoyable. Most of the time, running is spent in the medium between the highs and the lows that this type of exercise can bring.

After a run, however, the runners will tell you that they feel different. With endorphins surging through their body, they know that they haven’t mortgaged their futures for their present comfort. They know that their pain burned calories, that their hard work built muscles, and that their investment in themselves built self-esteem.

After a run, it is hard to not feel that you’ve done your work for the day – that somehow, through it all, you’ve ended up a better person. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’ve improved yourself.

This may seem to be lofty thoughts for a simple exercise, but therein lies your answer: runners run because of the feeling it gives them. Yes, it gives them pain and exhausts their energy, but it also takes them to places that the couch simply can’t – that no pleasure on earth can justify. To run for your health is to invest in yourself in the most simple way: giving away your current comfort for your future benefit.

Now that you think about it, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea, does it?

Photo Credits: Scott Ableman

Originally posted 2009-05-07 05:42:52.

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