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The top 5 things that make me run

May 8th, 2007 · 54 Comments

#5 Fame and fortune

This comes in at number 5 because it is more of a potential thing that could make me run.  Suffice to say that as far as I am concerned (and probably you too) I am not yet famous for my running (unless you call public ridicule, fame).  As a result I haven’t found a way to make a fortune out of running, and I’m not sure if it is even possible.  I’ll have to work on this one.

#4 Fun and fanatacism

This is more like it.  Of course you know how much fun, running can be.  There is only one thing that makes running more fun, and that is being fanatical about it.  To go out of your way to do something you enjoy, and to go out of your way to enjoy doing it, is the essence of fanatacism.  I try to make sure that I enjoy every bit of my life as a runner. 

#3 Feelings of euphoria

The secret is out throughout the world.  Runners are onto a perfectly legal but debilitatingly addictive drug.  “Runners high” is a well documented but seriously missunderstood phenomenon.  People love to talk about hormones, and chemicals, endorphines and neural pathways.  Really, I think it is all a bit too beautiful to define like that.  Any serious runner will tell you how good it feels. 

#2 Freedom

When I run, I am my own master.  There are no rules that hold me down, no boundaries that hem me in, and no responsibilities to slow me up.  There is only one person who has control over my running and that is me.  If the governement ever tried to make running compulsory, I would stop doing it straight away.

#1 Fury Fido

Number one is back to primal instincts.  Whether I am supposed to be running or not, the surprise I get when one of those massive dogs lauches itself at me, is guaranteed to get me running.  There is something hard to define but definetely repelant about being bitten by large canines.  While some dogs are a mans best friend, a strange dog in a strange place with a strange look in its eyes, makes me run.  There is nothing that turns a good day bad like the feeling of Fido taking a mouthful of your backend.

This top five things that make me run was written in response to  the Group Writing Project that Darren Rouse has set up on his Problogger site.  Please visit his site to see more articles written around the theme “Top 5″  

Note: It looks like Vern has trumped me with a list of 27 reasons why he runs…check it out here

Tags: Humour? · Running Psychology and Philosophy · Training

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