Distance Learning
Runner's World|February 2018

RUNNING HAS MANY BENEFITS, BUT MY FAVOURITE IS TRIVIAL.

Mark Remy
Distance Learning

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE BEST guide dogs aren’t used as guide dogs? They’re reserved for an even more important job – breeding more guide dogs. That’s a little something I learned months ago, during a run with a blind friend (and her own guide dog, Jenny).

It was an airy, inconsequential bit of information – trivial, really. It had no direct bearing on me or my life. Certainly not on my running. But I loved learning it. By the time the three of us ended our run, not only had we logged 8km, I was a bit more enlightened than when we’d started. I loved that, too.

I find that this happens fairly often when running with others – conversation ebbs and flows over the kilometres, and every now and then a bit of knowledge bubbles up. Run with enough people over enough time, and before you know it you’ve learned a little about a lot. And usually without really meaning to.

This happens frequently during group runs, which I suppose isn’t surprising. A good group run, with the right mix of people, can feel like a roving cocktail party, but with sports drink instead of cocktails and snot rockets instead of hors d’oeuvres. Group runs lend naturally to good conversation – when it comes to social lubricants, in my opinion, endorphins and vulnerability (read: short shorts) beat liquor any day of the week.

This story is from the February 2018 edition of Runner's World.

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This story is from the February 2018 edition of Runner's World.

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