"And what is it you like about running, Richard?" a question I was asked the other day when I suggested it was some kind of 'escape'. I guess many sports tick many boxes for many people, but I'm not sure running is a sport as such, not for me. Is it recreation? I do race on occasions, and likewise I like to train...sometimes! I like to be fit, to know I am healthy, or at least aspire in that direction. But it's so much more than that for me. Yes, to feel the blood surging and pumping around your body, to feel your heart beat, to know that you are alive, these are wonderful feelings. To experience the post run 'high' after a good session is perhaps addictive. To be outside, to embrace and enjoy the outdoors and what it both throws at you and also rewards you with. This is running. But what about this 'escape' thing. Yes, for me that also. I answer my question with the view that to run is to be free, free to think, free to run, just free. Running is good for the soul, good for my soul. I am a runner.
