The Many Benefits of Running

USATF – News – USA Track and Field – reports that BEIJING – “Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.) and Ryan Hall (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) were ninth and 10^th, respectively, to put two Team USA athletes in the top 10 of the Olympic men’s marathon for the first time since 1976 in competition Sunday morning. The race concludes Olympic track and field competition as Team USA won the medal race with 23 medals and seven golds.”

When the Olympics opened on 08/08/08, one of the first things that I heard was that the marathon event might be canceled due to poor air quality.  What a relief for the athletes that they were able to compete. To qualify and then not be able to compete, well I can’t imagine how much that would suck.  All those years of work for nothing.

I’m a runner, not a marathoner or an elite athlete – I run local events.  I spent the first 12 years of my life running everywhere, usually in some form of play, because it was fun.  I spent the next 28 years doing my best to avoid running. It was harder to run as I got older, it began to feel less like fun and more like work. 

I decided to try running again 4 months before my 40th birthday.  I was out of shape and a trainer I talked to at my health club suggested a walk-to-run program.  Every step was a test of my willpower – I wanted to stop and on every run the words, “This might not be a good idea,” ran through my head.  I worked very hard to replace those words with, “Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going….”   I ran my first event, a 10K that November.  As I approached the finish line, my then 8-year-old ran out to meet me and we crossed the line together. It was pretty cool and the whole thing made me cry (as many things do).  I was so proud of myself.

If you are a runner and single, think about joining your local running club.  It is a great place to meet other like-minded men and women in your area.  Many people say the same thing, “I don’t want to meet someone in a bar.” Running is about as far from bar hopping as you can get, unless of course, you are looking for a running event that features beer breaks, because some areas offer those, as well.   

Running clubs and running events attract people of all ages and although I know I will never be an Olympic athlete like Dathan Ritzenhein or Ryan Hall, I do hope that if I hang in there and keep running, eventually my age bracket will thin out a bit and someday, I just may place.  Somebody has to win the over 70 class, after all.