We were winding through suburban Atlanta, and I saw someone running. I distinctly remember craning my neck to see who was chasing him.
“Hmm, people here run even when they don’t have to,” I thought.
The memory says a lot more about me than it does about the universal culture of running. All my life, sports—of any kind—didn’t interest me. I wasn’t good at them; I didn’t follow them. I never exercised a day in my life.
That wasn’t a problem in my 20s and early 30s. (Hello, metabolism!) But when, in my 40s, I ballooned to well past the ideal weight for a 5'8 frame, I knew I needed to do something about it. I came across a Couch to 5K app and figured I could, at the very least, run for one minute.
I took to the road and two things happened: I felt a kind of exhilaration I’d never felt before, and the pounds started melting away. I was hooked. I signed up for a 5K, then a 10K, then a half, then a full.
This story is from the Issue 3, 2021 edition of Runner's World.
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This story is from the Issue 3, 2021 edition of Runner's World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TO RUN 26.2 IS TO FEEL ALIVE
THE SUN IS rising from the east, and the waves of the Pacific crash below to the west.
LEAVE IT UP TO A PIECE OF PAPER TO TEACH YOU TO RUN EASY
BEFORE I FELL for running, I thought the hardest thing about the sport was the fast stuff: the speedwork, the sprints, and the intervals.
WHY-AND HOW-YOU SHOULD RUN DOUBLES
Those are just a few of the titles entered into my training log for the second run of a day.
FIND YOUR RUNNING COMMUNITY, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
I SIGNED UP for my first marathon while sobbing in the back of a rideshare, on my way to the airport to fly to my uncle's funeral.
FUEL WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT
AS AN ULTRARUNNER, I'm all too familiar with the saying that long-distance running is an \"eating contest with a running component.\"
AT THE FERTILITY CLINIC, MY PAST CAUGHT UP WITH ME
I SAT IN the fertility doctor's office white walls, bare wooden desk, opaque window-alone.
THIS IS NOT AN ESCAPE STORY
AT 15, DARLENE STUBBS WALKED AWAY FROM A POLYGAMOUS CULT-THEN DISCOVERED A NEW LIFE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH RUNNING.
RUNNING WITH HANK
How my daughter's rambunctious mutt saved my sanity while she was lost to the darkness.
WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD MS.I THOUGHT I'D NEVER RUN AGAIN.
I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist.
A RUNNER'S GUIDE to sleep
Nike rocked the running world in 2018 when it released the Vaporfly 4%, claiming that the shoe could boost a runner's efficiency by that amount.
