Run for your lives!

 

If you’re like most run­ners, you know how good run­ning makes you feel and you prob­a­bly wish that you could get more peo­ple to run so that they could expe­ri­ence it too. But, just like me, you prob­a­bly have a ton of fam­ily mem­bers and friends that just don’t get it.

“You run that far on purpose?”

“I don’t want to pun­ish my knees.”

“I don’t see the point, unless some­one is chas­ing you.”

These are the com­ments I get from most of my extended fam­ily. I’m sure you’ve heard sim­i­lar ones from yours.

The last quote in par­tic­u­lar is some­thing that a cousin of mine would say. Now don’t get me wrong — he’s no couch potato. He does all sorts of out­door activ­i­ties, includ­ing hik­ing, bicy­cling, and paraglid­ing. He just doesn’t run.

Until now.

His brother is a run­ner. He’s been try­ing for years to get his brother to run, and kept hear­ing the same response — “I don’t under­stand the point of run­ning, unless some­one is chas­ing you.” So he chal­lenged his brother with the Run For Your Lives.

In this race you get to nego­ti­ate 12 obsta­cles along a 5K run­ning course — while being chased by zom­bies! My for­merly non-​​running cousin is now inspired to evade the zom­bies, defeat the obsta­cles, and while he’s at it also run 5K. So now he’s pulled together a train­ing plan, laced up his shoes, and has become a runner!

Now this type of event may not appeal to run­ning purists, is not RRCA cer­ti­fied, and will most def­i­nitely NOT land you a 5K PR. But it is a heck of a lot of fun, very unique, and attracts peo­ple to run­ning who may not oth­er­wise have ever given run­ning a try.

As more and more peo­ple flock to run­ning as a way to stay healthy, they are find­ing more and more ways to make run­ning enjoy­able. Whether you’re a Tough Mud­der, a Princess, a War­rior, a Fairy, or a Perp, chances are there’s a unique race out there just for you or some­one you know.

So find a unique event near you that would inspire some­one else in your fam­ily to run, and then invite them to join you!

Because at its heart, run­ning is not about PR’s and inter­vals and VO2MAX — run­ning is about stay­ing healthy while hav­ing fun. Enjoy!

2 Comments

• 
  Chad Dixon September 20, 2011 at 11:47 pm

  Just stum­bled upon your blog. I love it. Great thoughts on what run­ning is about. I preach this to my P.E. stu­dents every­day. Run­ning is the best form of fit­ness for most peo­ple. It can be done any­where. It takes no prepa­ra­tion or equip­ment (other than a good pair of shoes). And it can be done in almost all types of weather.
• 
  David H. August 7, 2011 at 7:56 pm

  Great post! The last para­graph is great, and some­thing that more peo­ple need to hear.