When I first started running, I more often than not had to drag myself out of the house to get myself to go on a run. I never had any motivation and honestly slightly hated running at the start; I couldn't breathe, my legs hurt, and I wanted to stop within the first minute of starting. However, it didn't take long before I was seeing some benefits from dragging myself out on my runs. My breathing was becoming better, my legs were taking me farther and I didn't quite hate it just as much as I did in the beginning. My fitness levels were increasing, and I slowly but surely started to enjoy the process of getting myself out for a run more and more as time went on!   Apart from the physical benefits and the increased fitness levels, I have seen so many benefits from running that I would not have thought when I started, including an elevated sense of mood. For me, running clears my head majorly and I can always rely on a run to increase my mood on a bad day. Equally, running has...

As we've discussed in my other blog post, I hated running when I was growing up. Apart from begrudgingly competing in my local sports day doing the 200m and 400m sprint, you wouldn't catch me running. In fact, you would catch me repeatedly answering “no, no…I don't like running” when asked by other people when I was going to take up the hobby just like my parents had. My parents spent most of my childhood running, starting a hill running club with their friends 10 years ago in the area I am from. From then on, I spent much of my time surrounded by runners daily and most of my weekends travelling to various locations in the middle of nowhere to watch hundreds of lycra wearing runners.…..run past me, including my mum and dad. I couldn't possibly understand how people would find this sort of thing fun let alone rewarding, or why they would possibly want to spend their weekends doing this. Over the years, my mum gradually started to shift from completing 10k and half marath...

Over the past year there has been a surge of the so called ‘running influencers’ on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, promoting running clubs, their training and the rise of the Sunday long run. Creating communities of sometimes thousands, these influencers are inspiring people to pick up running shoes and try the sport, sometimes for the first time ever or equally for the first time in a while. More and more people are getting out running and subsequently entering races, varying from park run 5k races to ultramarathons in hopes of crossing the finish line. Glasgow recently hosted the Great Scottish Run in October, compromising of junior races, a 10k and a half marathon in which the turnout was one of the biggest yet.    There isn't a doubt that there has been an increase in those running, and you can't help but wonder if there is a correlation between social media and the increase in numbers. Are these running influencers creating such an impact that so man...

As you walk through your local park on a Sunday morning surrounded by other likeminded regulars, a sudden wave of young, fit, vibrant men and women come running towards you. Wearing all the latest running gear - carbon plated running shoes and high-end running sunglasses that seem a bit excessive for a cloudy day, you can't help but stop and wonder “Why are they all running and where are they going?” This phenomenon seems to be happening more regularly than not, with more run clubs popping up all over the country promoting the Sunday run club, which almost always includes a coffee and a pastry afterwards.  Plastered across every social media channel you see photos of vibrant looking fresh faced runners socialising with one another, and I'm sure a lot of people have asked themselves “Should I start running?” within the last year. If not, I'm sure you have at least encountered this social media phenomenon at least once or know someone that is involved with the running communi...