There is no sport humans are better fitted to than running, as observed by the German science magazine geo.de. According to geo.de, it is the most widespread sport worldwide, due to obvious reasons: one can start right away and without a coach or any special equipment beside shoes. Even that is debatable with the advent of barefoot running.
“I decided to just try running,” said Shemaina Jory Miller, senior majoring in intercultural peacebuilding from California, “and at first I just hated it. I wasn’t used to running. I just thought it was so hot. Then one year I just kept running during the summer, came back for the cross country and I was good. That was the first time it hit me. Running is something you don’t have to have any natural skill or talent for.
“You don’t have to be born a runner, but if you could put in the effort and diligence, you can be as fast as you want. That’s what I love about running. It totally is what you make it.”
Janelle Farley, a physical education teacher on campus said, “I always tell people here to run with a friend. You are together, you talk and you don’t even realize that you are running. You motivate each other.”
Miller continued, “Sometimes I just don’t want to get up. As with everything else in life, it’s just about having the bigger perspective. If I focus on what is happening right that second, then I will never get out the door because all I want in that second is to sleep.
“But if I focus on what I want in the future, whether I want to feel a certain way or run a certain time, then it’s easy. That’s why I want to do a marathon. That’s my vision, what keeps me motivated to go out every day.”
Alexandra Athans, a junior majoring in elementary education from Laie, said about running, “It helps to get stress and anger off. I like that you can just run forever. Run and run and run. Unless your knees blow out, I guess.
“I like exercising. My motivation is not to be fat, to stay healthy,” she said. Athans’ mother passed away at the age of 30 because of her unhealthy lifestyle. “So running motivates me to stay healthy and make sure that I am not lazy and don’t have the same disease my mom had.”
Miller said she likes to run alone “because it’s kind of how I meditate. I love to run to places. I have found spots all over Laie, like favorite trees in the mountains or in the corners of beaches. It helps me to sift through all my thoughts and emotions. Maybe it’s spiritual, a way for me to just breath. I love to get up early and watch the sunrise.”
Miller said when she is really frustrated, she goes running. “It has become such a coping mechanism for everything. Whenever there is something wrong, I just have to run.” She said after running she “can look at the situation at a different light.”
Farley observed that since the bike path between Laie and Kahuku has been completed, it has made a difference in the lives of students and local families. “The number of families who exercise here has really gone up. It’s nice and safe. It’s out in the country. You have multi-families living with each other and if there is a family who exercises, you know the other families too.”
While the bike path has given people in the community place to exercise, Athans warns with the reopening of McDonald’s in Laie, “Everybody is going to get fat again. Seriously, when the last McDonald’s shut down, everybody started eating organics, vegetables or started to run or take Zumba. I guarantee you, right when that opens, so many people are going to be fat – including myself. I love McDonald’s.”
Miller sees the future with a brighter view. She said once people try running, they will find out if they like it. “There is not just one way to run. You can run on the trails. You can run for a few minutes and stop and walk. You can run the bike path,” she said. “It’s like that with any kind of exercise. You don’t know until you try. I think a lot of people are just too afraid to try.”
Geo.de further reported because endurance is the foundation for almost all disciplines, running is the basis for many sports. Those who want to move gently and are looking for a balance can find alternatives in Nordic walking, hiking, trail running or aqua-jogging.
Amartuvshin Batbaatar, a sophomore majoring in accounting from Mongolia, said running “prevents heart attacks and is a good exercise for bones and lungs.” Batbaatar said an article by dailymail.co.uk about running says, “The weight bearing effects from running makes it one of the best bone strengthening activities.” Batbaatar said, “If you run a lot, you won’t get tired after you exercise.”
Farley added, “There are quite a few who don’t like to run outside. So we have the gym, and they buy treadmills. [Although] running is not for everyone, there are people who thought they never ever would run. It just starts off gradually. People bring their spouses, their friends and I even have seen a lady bring her child in a stroller and they run. They have these groups. People like to be together in these groups.”
Farley said running can lead to desires to run in biathlons, triathlons, marathons and Spartan Runs.
“People see pictures of that on Facebook,” she said, and media helps build interest in running activities. Farley said people see their friends participating in these kinds of activities and they think if “she can do it, I can do it.”