One of the more subtle ways a running community sustains a runner is in motivation. Of course if one asks any runner why he runs there are a number of answers he may give but the drive of an upcoming race or commitment to a daily running partner cannot be ignored. My involvement with running clubs in the past has gotten me out of bed at five on Saturday mornings largely because I committed to be there with my friends and running peers. The expectations of members in a shared community can be powerful motivation as well as a source of great support during difficult times in one's life as a runner.
A running community also provides some of the most meaningful celebratory congratulations a runner can receive because other runners know the challenges and difficulties before the accomplishment. Whether a 5k or a marathon, every runner knows that just competing and finishing takes hours of training and sweat. This shared recognition seems to be the fact behind the most common words between runners on a race course: "good job"! I recently reached a long sought after goal of running a marathon under three hours. My running friends emailed me or called to express their heartfelt congratulations on the milestone accomplishment. When I shared the news with a brother (a non-runner) he simply asked, "Is that fast?"
Another of the many benefits of involvement in a running club has been the pooling of training and injury experience. When our running club gets together each week, we have the opportunity to talk and discuss our successes and challenges. Unfortunately, overuse injuries in their many varieties often come up. Fortunately, our group is large enough and diverse enough that someone either has had firsthand experience with the problem or knows of some simple strategies that can help alleviate or eliminate the issue.
Lastly, being a runner is an identity and often when one is with other runners there is an immediate sense of solidarity and belonging. I have never felt more at home and with my own people than standing in a crowd of runners at the start of race. We have all put in miles on pavement through all sorts of weather conditions. We are runners! More than that, we are runners striving to realize the ideal of being unconquerable runners. Continually striving for excellence and our very best, we come closer to being unconquerable because we are all members of a shared community.
