What Got You Into Running?
Hubby was training for Marine Corps Marathon, to spend more time with him I started running. We now run our own things and back to needing to find time to spend together.
I wanted to wrestle in high school but I was fat and needed to lose weight. I joined the cross country and track team and I ended up loving running (after initially hating it) now it’s my passion in life.
Wow I had no idea! I was fat, and wrestled in middle school but I sucked.I tried out for track in 8th grade on a whim, but didn’t make the team. I used to hate running, but in high school, it became something I could do to clear my head from family drama . Then a friend suggested I try out for track in 10th grade and I fell in love! I went on to run XC, indoor track, and outdoor track!
A friend from church is a runner and said you should try a 5k…so I did…than I was like cool I like this and here I am…running….completed my first marathon distance recently and signed up for my first 50k In may of 2018!
Needed a filler exercise while I was between bikes, otherwise I’d have sat on my arse and wasted all my work to that point. Kept at it and now looking to get into triathlon too.
I got up to 270lbs.. started riding a bike to lose weight… got into triathlon and discovered my love for running… Now I am an ultra marathoner and I have lost a total 110lbs! Running saved my life, I used to wheeze walking up the stairs 🙂
I got super depressed after a split in a very long relationship. Realized I didn’t have any kind of interest to keep my mind off it. Found running and never looked back. Helped me rediscover myself in many ways.
Just wanted to get some cardio workout and to ensure the fitness of my heart… and slowly slowly got sucked into the world of races virtual runs and GASP trail runs.
I’ve been running for about 20 years now. What got me started was my twin sister and my Dad. My dad was a state qualifier in Pennsylvania for Cross Country. My sister started running in 8th grade. I follow a year later. Never stop since.
I watched my roommate train for a marathon and the next year watched my brother run a marathon. I thought maybe I could do that too. I first did a 5K, then a 10 mile, then a marathon. I never stopped (that was 9 years ago).
School track with support from my dad who ran every local road race that popped up…. then Army Airborne school…. then I was introduced to trails a couple years ago… and now ultras …
My cousin ran a marathon and I went to the finish to cheer for her. It changed me. I didn’t consider myself an athlete so it took me nearly 20 years after to start running myself but now I’m in love forever!!! It makes me so happy to run! I run barefoot and it makes me feel like a kid again 😍
I told my kids to go play, they said they’d rather just sit on the couch with me. I knew then things had to change. I had never run more than a mile before then(2012). I’ve since run 6 marathons including a 51.4 mile ultra.
Freshman year of high school my cousins approached me to fill the remaining spot on the Varsity XC team. That was 21 years ago and I’m still running.
Always ran but switched to trails and ultras to be kinder to my feet/knees….oh and killer snacks…im all about the snacks!
Primary reason is the fact that there is Heart issues in my family on my mothers side. Later on it shifted towards a base for training in martial arts and from 2011 i discovered long distance running. That’s more or less my life now.
The middle school track was next door to my house. The fence was in my backyard. I would sit on my bed and watch runners run around this dirt track and i knew from racing kids on the playground i was quick and loved the feeling of running so i joined track as soon as i was in 7th grade, then cross country the following year been running ever since and still love it, I’m just much slower now😉
I had a horrible break up with my fiance and running was my way of therapy. I lost 111 pounds too so it was overall great for the body and mind literally. 🙂 Now, five years later I’m running still but to get “me time” from my kids and to lose this baby weight.
Look at all these runners managing depression, mental illness, or just running garden variety mood management. I want to show this thread to my two close friends struggling, but who cannot quite fight the inertia to start. So many successes here.
I received an invitation to “Train To End Stroke.” I had to raise 5 grand and the group was given a coach who put us on a training schedule. They paid the airfare and hotel for me to run the Kona Marathon in Hawaii on the Ironman course. Finished in 5:07 and only stopped running temporarily due to the occasional injury since then. I was 17th in my gender/age division out of 184 women in Kona!
One of my best friend’s wife dared me to run a 5k. All I did back then was lift weights and was a typical meathead. Lol after barely beating her but getting smoked the last 100 yards by a 10 year old kid who stuck his tongue out at me I was hooked.
Depression and to lose weight (in high school). Decades later still at it and have not lost a pound 😂😂. Still love it and finally do it because of that and not because I want my body to look a certain way.
I’ve been running for over 10 years, but when I went through a divorce it was like thearpy. I started running longer and longer, faster, and started doing Triathlons, and about to do my first full Ironman in 13 days. I’ve done two Ultras this year, a 50k and a 46 miler. I’ve never had so much fun in my life, regardless of physical pain than in the last year. Now it’s like coke in the 80s, I can’t stop.
I was overweight and smoked. So I dropped down from a size 16 to an 8 , gave up smoking and now have abs I can’t believe are there. Lol 😂 love shopping for trainers too.
My dad got me running when I was 6yrs, he would pretend to race me around the local university track. Somehow I always beat him! 🙂 I later found out this was his go to method of burning my energy when he was watching me.
I started running on a team the summer before I began high school (30 years ago) when I went to the high school’s introduction for incoming freshman. They were explaining all of the different sports that were available to students. I’m more of a “loner,” and not a competitive person in terms of sports like basketball or soccer. Cross country seemed like fun to me, and I loved it immediately. I went through years of running races with my team in high school, but then once I graduated, I became more of a solo runner. I love to just go out and run long, long distances early in the morning. It’s peaceful, and I can compete with myself and on my own terms. Running is definitely my de-stressor, my quiet place, and a chance for me to just enjoy myself outside.
So, I said what got my running. What’s kept me is a weird condition called erythromelalgia. It causes crazy, sudden foot swelling and it hurts. For the about a year, I didn’t run and could barely walk some days. I decided on days I could walk, I would run. I call what I do “binge running,” because I never know what will happen. My love of running has made me a nazi about avoid triggers, which has helped a lot. I see people on here with worse afflictions and am in awe.
I was playing soccer growing up and as a teenager. My high school gym teacher noticed the thing I loved most about soccer was the running and suggested I took up running. Been hooked ever since.
To much fat hah from 257pounds to 185pounds in one year and first I walk ,then mostly road running and I save the best for last trail running..But I’m not an Ultra and I hope one day I’ll achieve that magic line 50k.
It became an evening socializing thing with my college sweetheart. We’d go run 3 miles then alternate sitting on each other’s feet doing sit ups then his mom would make us dinner.
I was a way angry child and it helped me chill out and clear my mind. Used to rage, my mom used to hand me a tank top of mine and tell me to do
many laps around the property. I’d come back in calm as a cucumber.Running is one of those things you can just do by yourself, and it doesn’t take much. Just a pair of shoes, and the willingness to grind and see how far (or fast) you can go. Running can be fun, unpleasant, therapeutic, tiring, adventurous… it can be good or bad, but in the end, you always have that sense of accomplishment. Happy running!
I started running to quit smoking and it actually worked! I used to smoke 40+ cigarettes a day and tried everything to quit and nothing worked except running. By the grace of God I haven’t touched a cigarette again. I was completely addicted to cigarettes and one of those people who just couldn’t quit. None of my friends believed that I could do it and now I’m into running. Mostly trail running. The beauty and silence of nature is something I love so much. Running is my life now! Love it!
Tore a ligament in my ankle. Was on crutches and a wheel chair for about a year. Said I would run a warrior dash when I got better. That was 5ish years ago. At the end of this month I’m running my first Spartan Ultra Beast.
Metaphorically, I’m running home. I’m a truck driver, 350+ pounds, and struggling with my health. I want to be an example for my kids, and other people (including truckers who make a living sitting on our butt, staring out a window for 11 hours a day) that it is possible to get your life back, and it’s possible to do anything you want.
I run to remember my sister who died. To enjoy the dew in the air, the changing of the seasons, the salt sticking to my face, the sunrises and sunsets, to all the joy and hurt she will never again feel. I run to remember.
I did P90X3 to lose weight, and it worked well (along with diet). About 60 days into the program, I just felt like running. (Forest Gump style) So, I started running on the treadmill on Friday nights. From there, I took to running roads and trails, signed up for a 5K and it took off from there.
It’s only 30 minutes, so not too bad, but I think it would be hard to follow the schedule of 6 days a week in addition to marathon or ultra training. Someone could pick videos to use as cross training in addition to long distance running or do the schedule with running shorter distances.
I went from only being able to do push ups on my knees to doing 10 sets of 18 real push ups and being able to do plyo push ups by the end. I haven’t kept up so I’m nowhere near that now. The workouts are great and not too long.
Race walking is probably fun and maybe more interesting than just walking. I remember thinking after I started running how much faster I would get finished with my workouts.
Wanted an outlet after playing soccer & rugby in college. Lived in Tulsa so started doing the annual 15 K Tulsa Run. Moved to NC and a colleague was training for a marathon, so I joined him, plus I loved running around Salem Lake. Oh, and I grew up in Kenya. And am now living in Kenya again. And living at 7,200 feet with this view doesn’t hurt either. 🙂
I had a stroke at 32 years old. More of a fluke than a result of any heredity or poor health choices. I was healthier than the average American at the time (not saying much), but I figured I’d get myself in the best shape possible to lower the risk of a second incident. 4 years post-stroke, I’ve done 3 triathlons, my first ultra, and and ready for my 4th marathon on Sunday.
Started running a few years ago to get clean and sober. It worked. Now I’m addicted to buying running shoes.
Ran my first marathon in 2005. Portand marathon. Now running is my therapy. Now training for my first 100 miler.
My kids signed me up for a Spartan Super. 10 miles 32 obstacles. Told me to lose weight and get back in shape. I was 57 at the time. This year 3 ultra marathons and 4 Spartan events so I guess it worked.
Split up and divorce. I couldn’t sit in my suddenly way too quiet house when my boys weren’t there so I ran. Hadn’t for 10 years. Didn’t think I could after an injury from a car accident but determination can be a powerful thing.
I wrote this as part of a back story on my road to Boston. It outlines how I starting running.. What I call the bitter-sweet of having cancer and the people it put in my path! Have a read if you’re interested! https://shane-miles.blogspot.com/2017/04/i-cant-run.html
Was a cyclist for many years. Stopped that. Got depressed. Picked up a shit ton of weight. I ballooned to almost 120kg. Got it down to 69/70 kg and now 4 years later I can’t do without running. I’m able to say I can run sub 3:30 hr marathons almost regularly and running sub 5 min a kilo is now easy. Best thing ever was to put on those first pair of running shoes.
I started doing it to see why people like it so much and to do see if I could run a 10 k ….. I feel in love now been doing it for a year.
Running is my desert island – my own world.
Being in a bad place mentally…..knowing I was the only person I needed to rely on to get me from one place to another and testing the limits of that over and over again. It helped breed self confidence when I needed it most….I have yet to find something more therapeutic.
When I was younger , I ran about 3 to 4 miles for exercise. Years later when my father died, adding more miles and distance helped me relieve a lot of pain and grief I was feeling. In 2010, was when I decided to sign up for race, running my first half marathon. I haven’t been able to stop since. Running is my therapy ❤️🏃🏻♀️
Training for USMC, then I stopped for a very long time. Once I quit smoking then I restarted. Getting back to it now after DNF on a 140.6 and UN-related depression. It calms my crazy.
Originally: I was a cutter in high school and discovered the only thing that could beat that “urge” to cut was to run. It also helped me lose some weight I put on following a knee surgery. I slacked off of distance running during college (played intramurals instead) and had a bad hip injury in graduate school. A few years ago I started running again and it has really helped my anxiety and depression.
In the summer of 2016 I started coaching my kids for triathlons. So I started running to keep up with them 🙂 . I LOVE it and it keeps me in shape.
My Mom died a long, slow death at an early age because she didn’t take care of herself. I vowed that I would do everything in my power to not do that to my body. I quit smoking, lost weight and started working out. I always envied runners and never imagined I’d ever be able to run. Started running at my local FF in a 5k program. Four years later I am running marathons hoping to run my first ultra in December.
A friend needed me for the run leg in a triathlon because she had a bad knee. I forced myself to run 🏃🏼 because of her.
Dad was having chemo when a friend texted me about a race I was overweight and unmotivated before I could say no my dad asked to watch the video and said if I could I would, since that day I have never stopped and even though dad is resting in peace i still run for him.
I had high cholesterol and my doctor wanted to give me meds. I said, “fuck that!” Now I just run and eat right. Numbers are perfect.
My 8th grade English teacher was the high school XC coach…she talked me into volunteering at a meet and everything else is history! I’ve been running for 15 years now, have run 7 ultras and 20 Marathons! I have my teacher to thank for that!
278lbs, high triglycerides and the realization of ” do something more than lift weights or die”. Was a good runner 20 years ago so it seemed like a good place to start. A year later, 30lbs lighter with good blood lipids why stop.
After not running for 23 plus years. Last summer I ran a few 5k runs but had not planned on running regularly or longer runs. But then I spent the last week on the road photographing and helping Pete Kostelnick and his crew on his 2016 Transcon from Ohio to NYC. That’s when I got hooked and decided to start to train for 24hr races. I just ran my 1st 24hr race Labor Day Weekend 2017. And have three 24hr races and one 100 miler scheduled for 2018.
my psychiatrist recommend working out do deal with my depression and anxiety. running was the only thing that really stuck even though i always disliked it growing up when i played sports.
I spent 30 days in the hospital. They wanted to put in a permanent feeding tube but I refused. My wife said I was extremely stubborn through the whole thing. I had this thought of “give me a few weeks and I’ll be good as new.” It took longer than I wanted but had a great support system. Went to therapy and some thought “you could do those things at home.” It was a feeling of commitment that kept me going to therapy and that helped a lot. Today, I can’t tell you I am 100% back to normal but for those that meet me for the first time, they have no idea (which is the way I prefer it).
i was in 8th grade and went to take my dogs for a walk and there was this creepy guy jogging by my house so to evade him I sprinted to the park, and then i needed to stop and catch my breathe because i didn’t even do sports and that was a lot. the creepy guy jogged up behind us and was like “hey that was a great sprint, have you ever thought of running cross country?” turns out the creepy guy was a 7th grade science teacher and head coach on the xc team. I joined my sophomore year with my friends and haven’t stopped running since (about 11 years now <3) p.s. the creepy guy and I are now good friends xD.
I had weight loss surgery and my 16yr old son Caleb asked are you gonna depend only on the surgery to lose weight and while I was thinking about my answer he said let me show you how to run and we went outside and trotted up and down the street and before I knew it I tagged along on his training runs(for high school track )I was hooked when I started going out by myself to the trails that was almost 2yrs ago I now run more in a week than most people drive in a week.
I grew up running because we as natives are encouraged to run as soon as we can walk. My grandpa would always get us up before the sunrises and tell us to greet the sun and run home with the, sun on our backs. He would tells to pray for good blessings.
I ran a lot as a child – then later a pretty good sprinter when running from the bubble gum lights by 17 I started running regularly 3-5 mikes a day when getting ready to join the Army . I’ve continued running ever since with a few breaks due to life stuff.