Why I run and run and run…

I obviously enjoy running, otherwise I would not have a running company and I would not be constantly posting photos of me out running all over social media. However there are many reasons why I run, which I suspect is the same for many of us.
I don’t know what your reasons for running are, but I will share some of mine with you. (I have left out the obvious running for fitness as we all know how awesome it is for that 😃).
- I really enjoy doing it. I genuinely get a kick out of putting on my running stuff and getting outside. At school I was not great at team sports, but I was always in the running team, mostly because I was the only one who volunteered to run anything longer than 100 metres. Of course, I don’t enjoy every run, especially the rainy, windy, cold ones; but even after those ones are done I feel that post-run buzz. And this leads on to the next reason, which is that….
- I really enjoying sharing my passion for it with other people; hence why having Edinburgh Run Tours is my dream job!
- It is my mental escape / release. Outside of the tours, I often run by myself and even running with other people there is still plenty of quiet time. Running gives me a release from any daily frustrations or stresses I have and a sense of freedom that I never got working in an office. That’s why I love people taking people out running as I can see their anxieties and stress ebb away as we run.
- It gives me a sense of purpose and achievement. I think to a degree we all want to achieve something with our lives and it has been well documented that having purpose in your life makes you happier overall. Running, enjoying the freedom it gives me and having the opportunity to meet so many people from all over the world and share my passion with them, is my purpose. Of course training for a race and then completing it gives me that instant achievement boost and you have to love a collection of race medals :D!
- Running is an awesome way to see new places quickly! Yes, I am aware that a car or a bus would be a lot quicker, but automated transport aside, running around a new area is a fab way of exploring a discovering a new place! Going on a guided running tour, means you don’t need to swot up on all the routes and there is no getting lost. You just turn up and let guides like me take you around and you really get to know the city from the inside.
So there you have it, some of the reasons why I run. Maybe some of them resonate with you, even if you are not a runner…
So why do you run?