Why do people run?

So you would think that I’m the ‘you gotta plan to the T otherwise you’ll fail’ type, right? Well, apart from life and studying and success, no… shock horror, I know. I went for a run last Tuesday morning. It was unplanned, without a set route and totally unexpected. It was also one of the best runs I have experienced in months.

It was one of those runs where I forgot that I was running. If you’re a runner, you’ll know exactly the fulfilling feeling I’m referring to. For those non-runners but interested parties, what I mean is that the action of my legs moving and the focus of my mind was so successful that it took a sudden shift…

To being totally and completely natural. This is something that you simply cannot force. Sometimes, it will just happen and you love the moment, you’ll smile at it even because you know that how rare this moment is.

It doesn’t come around too often. We have to embrace it for all that it’s worth when we feel it. Now, I don’t know about you, but forgetting that you’re running tells me that it’s working.

I run to de-stress

This is one of the biggest reasons that I run. When the little things in every day life are really getting under my skin or if there’s something that’s really getting to me and I’m struggling to deal with, or if I’ve simply had a bad day for whatever reason… I run.

For those of you who are reading this who are runners, you know what the bizarre but liberating feeling I’m referring to. You’re probably now smiling because you know exactly what I mean when I say.

the best part of running is when you forget that you’re running”

But, for those of you don’t run and absolutely no idea what this ‘feeling’ is, my only and best advice to you is this: run!

Running makes me feel like nothing else matters

I cannot think of any other moment in my entire life that I have felt anything even remotely similar to the feeling of ‘forgetting that you’re running’.  You get totally lost in a run – not geographically lost though. As though you forget all your problems and everything going on in the world.

I think that’s kind of the point, though. That’s one of the reasons so many people stick to running, because it gives them that irreplaceable, happy feeling that they have found in no other sport. I mean, don’t get me wrong I’m sure football has its feel good factor. But I have to side with running, call me biased. This is what it looks like on me, in my own little world of running.

The Runner’s High

Okay, so non-runners, it feels a little like this.

You know how red bull supposedly gives you wings? That’s #thebuzz. It’s like a really fast day dream. One moment you’re running, the next you’re in the midst of a thought process.. and the very next, it’s like you’ve snapped out of it as fast as you dived in and you find yourself in amazement that you didn’t fall over.

It’s like we leave this world for a few seconds. But it’s a refreshing feeling every time and you feel as though it was worth the run. It’s served its purpose and you find yourself smiling because you felt the runner’s high again.

Now then, non-runners…

If you’re a not a runner, and don’t want to try it out, I get it. I don’t know your reason for not running, and I don’t need to. Not everyone likes running; the world would be a boring place if we were all the same!

But if you’ve never tried it, I’d encourage you to give it a whirl.

1. You don’t have to be fast
2. You don’t have to track anything
3. You don’t have to wear fancy running gear

What have you got to lose by trying one run?

I’m here to encourage you, because I want for you to feel the emotion that gives you wings. Running brings out the better, happier, healthier person in me. I am at my best when I run. Not because I’m faster than someone else. But because running makes me feel good. It’s as simple as that. Running gives you a buzz and I’d love you all to feel it.

Written by Katie McDonald, 17th July 2017, Updated, 6th April 2025.

Instagram | Runkeeper | Facebook | X (Formerly Twitter) | LinkedIn | TikTok