https://wwos.nine.com.au/olympics/kelvin-kiptum-dead-news-marathon-world-record-time/cc5fa662-410e-4039-8e4c-708eddee11cd

This is extremely tragic. I’ll be thinking of him and his potential. Both him and his coach were amazing, and in track to pave the future of marathon running. Wow.

Aside from the odd dollar here and there, what have you found that makes you appreciate the adventure of an outdoor run? On two separate occasions I’ve found high-quality scissors in perfect condition. Did I choose to run with scissors? You bet!

Edit: Wow! Thank you to everyone who responded! Your responses have been entertaining, funny, bizarre, at times scary, and heartwarming. I tried to read every response and besides being thoroughly entertained for the last 18hrs, I’ve learned some things about us runners: 1. We’re a thrifty bunch. We will turn someone’s trash into our treasure. There are a lot of responses about useful found objects. 2. In that vein, there seems to be no object too large for us to carry home. Brooms, sofas, dining sets, surfboards, FIVE fishing rods; you name it, we can carry it. 3. We’re good citizens. We rescue people, dogs, wild animals. 4. On that note, running is a great way to find a new pet. 5. We’re an honest lot. If you lose something valuable and a runner comes across it, there’s a good chance that runner will do their best to return it to you. 6. We find our spirituality: Objects with very personal connections seemingly put in our path by the universe and otherworldly encounters with wild animals. 7. Sadly we occasionally find dead people. But sometimes we find almost dead people and we save them! 8. On a related note, there are more than one of you who have found people tied up in the woods. 9. And the biggest take home: Dildos are everywhere.

And with a time of 59:58:21 does it with seconds to spare! Go #smalleuropeanwoman!

Since getting into running I’ve noticed a huge influx of people running since the beginning of the year. Old friends returning back to Strava after being inactive for years (myself included 🤣). Instagram feed is constantly full of runners, even my work place talking about marathons etc. Maybe it’s just because I now see myself as a runner that’s affected my social algorithm/awareness & addiction to running trainers? 🥴

For those that have been running a long time, is this the most popular you’ve seen running become? Or does this generally happen from time to time?

For me, it's horse snorting. But so strong that my cheeks are puffed out and half my face is vibrating. It somehow loosens up my entire posture.

Last night I ran on a trail section at a local park where I had by far the most embarrassing moment of my long running career several years ago. So I was reminded of that moment and honestly wanted to read about your embarrassing moments so I don’t feel quite so bad.

Mine was just at a local park. It has a crushed gravel trail around a lake, and during the week, especially in the mornings it is very remote and sparsely used. You can often see wildlife, and it’s nice to just put on your headphones and chuck away some miles. Well it was on one of these mornings where I was lost in a song, and found myself a little gassy. Well.... I was all alone in a remote park, so I passed gas over a number of strides and IMMEDIATELY was passed by an entire high school cross country team that was apparently out training, and they all had emphatic comments like.... “sweet”, “that was impressive”, “taco Tuesday?”, etc.

Sigh.

I don't understand. There's tons of fancy, expensive running shorts from Nike or specific running brands that only have open pockets with no zippers. Who wants this? Who would ever want to run with something in their pocket that could potentially fall out? Imho all running shorts should have zippers on the pockets. I don't understand why there's 60 Euro running shorts from Nike with no zippers at all, while all 5 Euro Kalenji ones have them.

Anyone else annoyed??

https://www.unilad.com/news/sport/olympics-paris-rebecca-cheptegei-set-on-fire-800188-20240903

Set on fire by her partner according to reports. Absolutely horrifying.

Any controversial/unpopular opinion that you may have in regards to running

My hot take is that Adidas shoes > Nike

I know the title is a little silly because running always happens in real life but let me explain. I want to hear stories about something unrelated to a race where being a runner came in handy!

My example: a couple weeks ago I was running (lol) late for an important meeting and my free parking garage in the city was about a mile from the building I had to be at. Rather than paying extra to park my car closer in order to arrive on time, I was able to still park a mile away in the garage and run to the building. Running at an easy pace, I arrived exactly on time and hardly broke a sweat. It kind of made my day.

Share yours!

I stumbled (sometimes literally) into the goal of running every day for a year out of necessity to get out of my apartment and stay occupied and healthy during COVID. It turned into so much more than I could imagine.

2011 miles, four states, three pairs of shoes and one half marathon later, I want to share some of the things I’ve learned through this endeavor.

Please share yours in the comments!

1. A year is a long time. 365 days is a lot of days.

2. Discipline is more effective than motivation.

3. I have never regretted a run.

4. Runners high is real.

5. Sunscreen and Vaseline are important in the summer. Gloves are clutch in the winter.

6. Goals and boundaries are important: no relationships or work have been irreparably harmed in the pursuit of this goal.

7. Running in the rain isn’t so bad. Running in the cold rain is pretty bad. Running in the wind sucks.

8. Very few people want to talk about running. In fact, even less than you’d expect.

9. Many terrible seeming problems and conflict can be minimized with space and distance.

10. Movement is integral to my mental health and happiness.

I was standing at the starting line of a local Firecracker 5 on the 4th of July and thinking (tongue firmly in cheek) these are some of the characteristics I see that make me think, "this person is absolutely going out for blood and is going to smoke this race:

-High school girl in a sports bra, short shorts, with hair all up in Philly Bowden-style butterfly clips, compression socks

-Super-fit looking woman in a red, white, and blue tutu (obviously, humidity does not affect her) and matching Heidi braids

-super-skinny old dude who looks like he ran in the first NYC marathon in tennis shoes

-Obligatory shirtless guy with tats and no socks

-Mom in Alphaflys with dad waiting with kid and family dog in the stroller on sidelines (this is her moment, and she can have no distractions)

-Any high school kid who comes with their cross-country friends (can't look bad in front of the team)

Obviously this is all in good fun (obligatory note that anyone who is dressed in any particular way or with any body type can crush a race), but when you're on the starting line, what makes you look at someone and think "I better watch out for this person," or, if you're like me and only have hopes of placing in your age group, "I better stay out of this person's way"?

I recently got a job as an assistant race director and am looking to positively add to the overall race atmosphere of our events. What is one thing you wish would become normal practice at the runs you attended? Thanks in advance 😁

First things first, I (29F) am 5'5" and about 170 lbs. Large boobs, wide hips, and I got some stomach on me. Overall, I look pretty proportional though. Hourglass, just a little wider. Wear a Large or a size 12 in most women's clothes. (Just trying to paint the picture here lol)

I also eat very healthy. Fresh foods only, everything home-cooked, never frozen processed foods, etc. Mostly veggies because I love veggies.

This is the body I was given. My weight doesn't really fluctuate. I don't gain weight easily, nor do I lose it easily. I've been a thick girl since puberty and because I run often and eat healthy, it doesn't seem like that will never change, which is fine with me.

I've been running for many years, somewhat inconsistently. I might be consistent for 2 years before falling out of my routine for a few months. Get back into the groove again and something eventually throws me off my game again. Throughout all this, I still consider myself a RUNNER. I love the sport and even if I'm out of a weekly routine, I still try to find time to run here and there. 3 miles minimum.

Because of the above things, people never really expect me to be a runner. My body type doesn't fit the runner mold. I don't post every run and race on instagram, which as everyone knows, is what truly makes it real *eyeroll*. (No shade to people who do post all of their runs and races! My problem is only the people who think if you DON'T post, then it didn't happen).

My fastest 5k was at an 8:02 (min/mile) pace. I am aware that this isn't SUPER fast, but it's fast enough that I've placed in my age group in all of the 5Ks I've ever done. I'm from a pretty small area so many of the 5Ks were fairly small, maybe only a couple hundred people attend. I'm aware that in bigger cities, I would probably have a little more trouble placing. But regardless, I still think an 8:00 to 8:30 5k pace is something to be proud of.

Anyways, my complaint is this. Since my body doesn't fit everyone's vision of what a runner should look like, people love to assume I'm slow or new to running. Or people think I'm lying when I mention that I got 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in my age group at whatever 5k. If they don't make an actual comment about it, I can sometimes even see it in their eyes that they're skeptical.

Even worse, people who don't realize I've been running for most of my life sometimes put their foot in their mouth by saying something along the lines of "have you started running to lose weight?" ...No, why? Should I be losing weight? I think I look pretty damn fine, if you ask me.

After moving to a new city, I decided to join a running group. The town I lived in previously didn't have such groups. I showed up to my first group run and met everybody. As we waited for everyone else to show up, a girl from the group said to me "I'm in recovery mode, I'll be running slow so I can run with you." I just politely smiled, although I was quite offended. What exactly makes this person, whom I met 3 minutes ago, think I plan on running "slow"? What makes her think that her "recovery" pace is equal to my comfortable pace? I chalked it up as since it was my first time joining the group, maybe she assumed it was my first time running? I don't know- but I still think about that little comment sometimes.

I am not negative towards my body. I have a great figure that I love, but it's still upsetting to know that people make assumptions on what I can and can't do physically, which should not be the case. Weight and health do not ALWAYS go hand-in-hand.

​

Any other runners on the thicker side experience this kind of judgement? How do you deal with it?

Thin-framed runners or even non-runners, do you find yourself judging others in this way? Be honest, I would love to hear multiple opinions!

​

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Edit: Pace is in minutes per mile. I'm new to reddit and forget I'm interacting with people from all over the world.

Also, this was not meant to be a post for weight loss tips. The unsolicited advice in the comments proves further the assumptions people make.

​

Anyone else prefer the cold? I don’t care if it’s 32°F. Running in the heat is miserable for me. It feels infinitely harder. Where as in the cold, I can always layer up. And I find it motivational, cause if you stop running in freezing temperatures, you’ll probably just die. So you gotta keep moving. The air when it’s cold is nice and crisp, almost refreshing.

ETA: obviously there is an optimal temperature. But if given the two extremes, hit me with that cold blast.

My epiphany has been lazy glutes (see context below). What's yours?

I've been running for about a decade (marathon in 2015, tons of half marathons and 10ks before and after). I consider myself a decent runner, PR pace for half ~7:50/mile and PR pace for 10K ~7:40/mile.
BUT, I just learned something significant. I've had lazy glutes all this time. When running or doing strength work, my glute muscles basically only ever engage when they have to. Which causes excess strain on quads, hams, knees, calves, low back....basically everything. And I've just started to more mindfully engage the glutes both while running, dynamic warm ups, and strength training. It's night and day. It'll require a little training up, but I'm sure it'll help me speed up a bit as well as avoid unnecessary injuries and tightness.

EDIT:
Since a lot of questions have been asked how to engage glutes, Here's a good video.
As for me personally, I've benefited from flexing squeezing glute muscles when I'm running, walking, stairs, etc. And during dynamic warmup movements. And, especially, during strength training. And I go slower in strength training and really focus mindfully on glute engagement/squeezing - sometimes placing my hands there so I can feel it engage (both glute maximus and, especially, glute medius)
You'll know it's working because your glutes will get a lot more sore. And your other muscles will feel better because they arent working as hard.

I'm currently overweight and like to run for exercise. In the past, I always tried to run a mile and then promptly quit after one mile and obsessively looked at my fitibit while running to see how close I was to a mile the entire time.

For whatever reason after picking up running again last week, I decided to put my Playlist on shuffle and run for 5 songs instead of a mile.

Every single time now I always run a little over a mile and this method has helped me so much! As I get more fit, I hope to eventually up it to 10 songs!

I’m a casual runner. I ran all through high school and have raced locally through college. But right now I enjoy running just to run. I love not having specific goals for times or distances. Instead, I run for the head clearing benefits and the endorphin burst. This is usually a few 3-5 mile runs a week. I’m a solid 9 minute miler with no desire to push any faster. I’ve done my share of 5k’s and half’s but the incessant training makes the sport more painful and stressful than enjoyable to me. So for now, I’m saying no to the pressure! Goodbye to the metrics! 10 minute mile day? No problem. Cut today short? That’s ok. I’m sure I’ll want to race again, but has anyone else had a season of enjoying casual running with no goals in mind? How long did it last?

Mine is 180+ cadence, and the arms control the legs (which helps get cadence up when tired).

Let’s keep it performance focused!

EDIT: thank you for all the responses! I’ll be reading every single one and I’ll bet EVERY comment will help someone out there.

EDIT 2: thank you for all the awards! Wow! I’m flattered. If there’s a tip in the comments that was eye opening, consider giving future awards to them (: they deserve it

So tonight on a 4 mile recovery run in 90 degree weather, I ran past 3 young girls (two were around 6 or 7 and one younger, around 4). As I approach, the little one yelled “hi” so I smiled and said “hi”. One of the older ones said “what are you doing?” “I’m running” I replied with a big smile. She locked eyes with me and asked why. I had a moment to respond, without breaking a stride I said “ because it makes me feel good! I’m running 4 miles!” She was shocked and said “four miles!! Wow!” She was smiling as I ran away.

I don’t know it just felt so good. What if that small interaction sticks with her? If it makes her want to join a cross country or track team in school? Or pick up running when she is stressed in young adulthood?

While I finished my run all I could think about was how important it is to share our love for running with young people.

Thanks all! Share the running love!

I went out for a casual 4.5 this morning and this was the first time this season that there was a breeze. and it was less than 80F out. I could already feel my pace picking up simply because I didn't have to fight harder to keep cool. Now I can't wait for those 20-30 degree runs where I can knock out 10 miles and fly through it all.

Yay winter running is coming! Who else is excited?

“I’m not superstitious. Just a little stitious”. -Michael Scott (& Davey Martienz)

I have a coffee mug I picked up at a warehouse sale for a local running store. The thing literally cost me a buck and has become my favorite mug. It has “Good Run, Champ” printed on the side.

The thing is, if I know I’m going for a run that day, I CANNOT drink out of this coffee mug. I’m convinced if I drink from this mug before my run then I haven’t earned its accolades and I will end up having a bad run. So it stays on the shelf until afterwards.

So that’s me. What are your running superstitions?

Edit: Changed quote attribution. Sorry for any fans of The Office I offended.

Alright the Black Friday deals are coming out - what are you looking at?! Can be shoes, apparel, tech, nutrition - send them all!

I've been noticing that running or, more generally, doing cardio is currently being perceived as a bad thing by the vast majority of fitness trainers/YouTubers. I frankly don't understand it. I can't seem to understand how working your way up to being able to run a marathon is a bad thing.

It seems to me that all measure of health and fitness nowadays lies in context of muscle mass and muscle growth. I really don't think I'm exaggerating here. I've encountered tonnes of gym-goers that look down on runners or people that only practice cardio-based exercise.

Obviously cross-training is ideal and theres no denying that. But whats the cause of this trend of cardio-hate?

What are your running goals for 2025?

I’ll start:

5k - sub 20 (currently 21:08)

10k - sub 40 (currently 45:49)

Half marathon - sub 1:35 (currently 1:44:54)

Marathon - sub 3:30 (currently 4:13:28)