This past Saturday, over 1,200 people crossed the finished line of the Gamecock 6K in Colonial Life Arena.
As with any road race, the diversity was remarkable: young and old, elites and beginners, locals and out-of-towners. It showed that there's no such thing as a typical runner.
During high school I learned the ins and outs of racing, like running mechanics, pacing and competitive mentality. I went from a nonathletic freshman to senior co-captain of the girls’ track and cross-country teams.
The experience of becoming a runner, and of adjusting to a less competitive atmosphere since then, has taught me that anyone can run.
Over and over, when the subject of running comes up with friends or strangers, I’ve heard the same phrase: “I can’t run.” For whatever reason, many people seem to think that the only point of running, for those who are not fast, is health.
Don’t get me wrong, running is great for your health. It can help manage weight, strengthen your heart and lead to both lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
But these are just the first few entries on running's long list of benefits.
I’ve often said runners are the greatest people you will ever meet. This does not mean that only runners can be great, and I know plenty of awesome people who don’t run. But I believe that running, and the process of making yourself a runner, makes you great.
Running is the best decision I’ve ever made, by far. I was never the fastest, and never the girl that the best runners set their sights on during a race. Instead, I set my sights on them. I chased them and found myself doing things I wouldn’t have thought possible.
When I no longer had ponytails whipping back and forth ahead of me, daring me to catch them, I dared myself to chase something new.
And so I ran my first half-marathon, another thing I wouldn’t have thought possible.
Every runner has a story something like mine, but there are no requirements. If the longest race you ever ran is a 5K, you are a runner. If you walk-jog your way through a marathon, you are a runner. If you never sign up for a single race and just do laps around your neighborhood, you are a runner (although I highly recommend road races, because they're a hell of a lot of fun).
It boils down to this: Running is the best investment anyone can make. Any runner, seasoned or beginner, can tell you the incredible things that happen when you start running.
For one thing, you meet an incredible, if sometimes quirky, group of people. Running is always easier with others, particularly when you first begin, so find a buddy and don’t make yourself go at it alone.
And whether it’s the first time you run a mile without stopping or when you blow away your goal time in a race, you amaze yourself. And you learn to love the road or trail. Sometimes you need to get rid of stress, and it’s nice to come home sweaty, tired and proud of it.
There will always be runners who leave the rest of us in awe, like Usain Bolt, who holds both the 100- and 200-meter world records, or Roger Bannister, who ran the first sub-four-minute mile in 1954.
Not all runners will be like the girl on my high school team, who runs faster as a seventh grader than I ran as a senior (and my times weren’t bad).
The point is not always to be better than everyone else. We run because it makes us happier, healthier and better.
Runners are the greatest people, and anyone can run.