Why I Run

When people find out I’m a runner, inevitably they ask one thing: why do you run? I have to admit, I’ve never really had an answer.

I’ve always been a runner. Not in the traditional sense – I was never on a track team and I rarely ran races until I got to college at the University of Delaware, but ever since I could walk, I’ve been running. It started when I didn’t really have an interest in learning to ride a bike. My friends would ride, I would run beside them down the street to the corner store to get Big League Chew and Italian Ice. On our annual visits to my grandparents’ house in Iowa, my sister and I would go to their Walk & Talk group a few mornings a week. While they walked and talked….and talked…and talked some more, I ran. I loved it.

Then came middle and high school, and like childhood friends sometimes do, running and I drifted apart. We hung out in different crowds, went to different parties, rarely crossing paths. In college, though, I fell in love all over again. I started running in the nature preserve near the University of Delaware’s campus, to this day my favorite place in the world to go for a run. In mid-summer, running along White Clay Creek felt as remote as running alongside the Amazon. Away from class, work, phones, responsibility, everything. It’s nice to have that every once in a while these days. Even running without so much as a watch in Boston, I can rarely escape the time, temperature, or why Carla totally won’t hang out with Jenny anymore because Jenny hung out David and that’s SO not cool. To me, the best runs are out in the middle of nowhere, with miles to go, alone with your thoughts. And maybe some Daft Punk.

Since those serene, carefree days, however, I’ve moved to Somerville. My relationship with running became more complicated. Working full time, it was harder for me to stay motivated. I didn’t like running in the cold, or the wind for that matter. Turns out, Boston has lots of both. I would run for a few months at a time, getting in shape for a random 5k here and there, and stopping again when the weather shifted. I needed a purpose.
In 2012, I found it when 2 things happened: first, I turned 26. The very age itself just sounded unremarkable in every way. At 13 you become a teenager, at 18 an adult, 21 you can drink, and 25 your insurance rates drop. I wanted more out of 26. I wanted to be more involved in my community, I wanted something to work toward. I would volunteer for various events at the Red Sox Foundation, which was always great, but besides just being involved, I wanted to be passionate about the work involved too. And I’m a Yankees fan. Not that volunteering there wasn’t a blast, but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. In September of 2012, however, I got it. Exactly it. It was a company-wide email like any other, sent to tens of thousands of employees, probably deleted in seconds by most. It was an open invitation to join Team Stork, the Brigham & Women’s Boston Marathon team, to benefit the Stork Foundation. This was the perfect opportunity for me. I had always thought of the Boston Marathon as a life-long goal. Something that I would train hard for, qualify for, run for the time and my overall finishing place…but that still wasn’t enough.  It was never enough just to do it for myself. When I got the email from Team Stork, however, things changed. Now I could do all the things I loved anyways: run hard, run long, work hard and get better, but I could also do it while sharing the experience with a fantastic group of people, and raising money and awareness for a great cause, The Stork Foundation.

There’s nothing quite like running for charity. I’ve never done it before, but after the very first conversation I had with our program director, Susan, I was excited. If you’ve ever spoken to her yourself, you know what I mean. The spirit to fundraise while working and training so hard is contagious. From the first team meeting, I met so many fun, motivated, outgoing, and above all generous and amazing people who, in many cases, take months out of their lives every year to raise the minimum $5,000 for their respective charities on their way to completing their 2nd, 5th, or even 25th Boston Marathon. It’s hard not to want to work hard when surrounded with that type of person. During a blizzard-filled winter, they’re out there - in the cold, rain, snow, wind - whatever, quietly accumulating miles. They’re not doing it for a PR, or the medal to show off at their desks at work, they’re doing it for everyone who can’t.

I admit, in the past I’ve always been far more concerned with my overall finish than anything else when running a race. The Boston Marathon will be so much more rewarding, though. Whether I run just under 3 hours (not likely!) or just under 4, the exact minutes and seconds I run will fade in my memory over time. Maybe since it’s my first marathon I’ll remember. But so far, the people I’ve met stand out far more in my mind than my time in any single workout or race I’ve done since I started.

I hope to pass along the infectious attitude my new friends have given me. Maybe next year, I’ll even inspire one of you to run with me! I can’t promise you it’ll be fun ALL the time, but  I can promise, if nothing else, that it’s going to mean the world to someone. Someone you’ve probably never met and never will, but the money the Boston Marathon raises goes to so many great causes that it’s almost impossible not to affect someone positively. It’s a great feeling.

And I finally have an answer to the question: why do you run?