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TAYLORSVILLE — Wednesday is not a holiday that everyone will celebrate.
Well, it’s not actually even a holiday. Running enthusiasts created National Running Day five years ago on the first Wednesday in June in hopes of inspiring non-runners to give the sport a try. Local running stores, running groups and race directors celebrate the day with group runs, prize giveaways and discounts on races.
Running is an interesting sport because, for many people, it seems more like an aspect of other games and activities than its own sport. On of my favorite high school cross-country T-shirts bore the sentiment that sums up how a lot of people see distance running: “My sport is your sport’s punishment.”
So why punish yourself?
It seems that the very aspects of running that deter people are also the reasons people fall in love with the sport. Over the years I’ve talked with many people about what motivated them to take up a sport they once saw as training for other activities.
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The most common answer is that they wanted to get in shape. Sometimes it’s a medical issue that forces them to take an honest look at their lifestyle choices, while other times it’s just the desire to feel better. Sometimes it's peer pressure or life-altering experiences that send us to the street or treadmill.
But the reason people fall in love with running often has nothing to do with losing weight or holding onto good health. The most compelling reason people spend thousands of dollars each year on running shoes, gear and races is because of how it changes them emotionally.
I once questioned runners at a race who finished near the back of the pack. I wanted to know what would motivate someone to train everyday to run a race that they knew — before the starting gun even fired — they could never win. I wanted to know what kept someone participating in a sport that seemed like it didn’t even love those who loved it most.
Over and over the runners told me different versions of the same sentiment. They ran because when they did, they felt better. They ate better. They dealt with life better. And they managed life’s difficulties better.
Every runner has a story about that race (or training run) that was a disaster. They wanted to quit; they wondered why they started or signed up; they doubted their ability to finish, let alone hitting that goal time. They talked about the conversations, the mental arguments that sometimes occur daily.
Don't be afraid of running. It does love you — even when you hate it. It loves you so much it doesn't coddle you or lie to you.
And then one woman said she’d been suffering through early-morning training runs and races in which she’d never placed for nearly three decades. Running, she told me, never got easier. And that’s exactly why she loved it.
Don’t be afraid of running. It does love you — even when you hate it. It loves you so much it doesn’t coddle you or lie to you. If you don’t train, you suffer. And sometimes you suffer even if you’ve done everything you can to prepare. Running will remind you of your life most days — unexpected headwinds, devastating injuries and disappointing performances.
But if you really commit to it — even smaller distances like a couple of miles a few times a week — it will transform you. The sport that most people say they hate will reveal aspects of you, of your abilities, that you never would have known if you hadn’t decided to get out and just run.
One day you’ll wake up and instead of having that argument about whether or not you want to run, you’ll ask yourself how you lived without the run. It becomes the best part of your day and creates the best friends and best moments in your life. All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other even when it seems hopeless, pointless and impossible.
So on National Running Day, I will run a trail that I had trouble walking up without intense lung and leg pain last year. I will celebrate how running has helped a mediocre athlete enjoy some spectacular experiences and meet inspiring, courageous human beings. The reasons to run are as numerous as the runners on the road. But my favorite aspect of running is how the sport seems to transform difficult moments into inspiring opportunities.
That hill, that headwind, that unexpected detour — they’re all just opportunities to see something different in ourselves, in others and in the world around us. So, however you choose to celebrate Wednesday, and for whatever reason, I wish you all a Happy National Running Day and happy running everyday!
Twitter: adonsports Email: adonaldson@deseretnews.com
