Who's A Runner?

If you run, you are a runner.

This is a statement said often enough, but it’s not that simple. On the surface, the statement is true: if you engage in the physical activity of running, you are a runner. There is, however, a whole mindset that goes with owning the label of “runner.”

I’ve been a runner and in the running community long enough to know how hard it is to own “runner” as a part of one’s identity. I remember how hard it was for me to call myself a “runner” because I didn’t know when I became a runner. Was it when I decided to start running? When I started a training plan? When I crossed the first finish line? When I purchased running shoes? It took at least a year for me to own “runner” as part of my identity and, even then, it took multiple training cycles for different events for me to feel comfortable claiming running as part of who I was instead of running being something I did. I had to shift mentally from “Oh, I just run because XYZ” (lacking confidence meant I had to explain why I spent my time running) to “Yes, I run period” (confident AF because I no longer feel I have to justify why I run). The ownership of “runner” doesn’t stop there though:

• Am I a runner if I don’t race?

• Am I a runner if I just started running?

• Am I a runner if I take walk breaks?

• Am I runner if I don’t look like a runner?

• Am I runner if I’m not following a training plan?

• Am I runner if I don’t work with a coach?

• Am I runner if I only run x-number of miles a week?

• Am I runner if I only run x-number of days a week?

• Am I runner if I don’t have all the gear, like a watch or the latest shoes?

• Am I runner if running feels hard?

• Am I runner if I don’t love how running feels when I’m running?

• Am I a runner if I don’t have a Boston qualifying time?

• Am I runner if I am “slow” or getting slower?

• Am I runner if I don’t do speed workouts, know where the track is, or know what a “fartlek” is?

• Am I a runner if I am injured and can’t run?

• Am I a runner if I’m taking a break from running because I’m pregnant, post-partum, moved or surviving life?

The answer to all of this is a hearty “Yes, you are a runner!” You see how murky the waters can get when we tie the physical aspect of running to the idea of being a runner? The point I’m trying to highlight is that running is also a mindset. To be a runner is to do more than run, which means we need a more expensive definition of running (I said this a couple of weeks ago, too here). A lot of us are runners but we minimize that by saying we “just run” plus some qualifier to that statement like it’s needed.

It’s ok to own that you are a runner, even if your way of being a runner is different from others and maybe even different from previous versions of yourself.

Listen, I get the struggle. I am currently running four days a week (down from 6-7) and I used to be someone that said, “just lace up and go.” (FYI, I don’t say that anymore because there are nuances to running that center around safety, support, and privilege)

In my heart, I believe there is more to running because there has to be more to it for us to continue doing something that can be, at times, challenging and heartbreaking. Why do I believe this? Because even on the days where I don’t run, I still feel like a runner. Because even on the days where the run sucked, I am grateful I was able to run in the first place. Because even on the days where the run was great, I am looking forward to the next run. The run is never far from my mind and I love who I have become because I made the choice to commit to what it means for me to be a runner. I’ve come to a point where I see an injury or a break as an opportunity to strengthen and focus on those things that will make me a physically stronger runner. (Knocks on wood for no injuries)

The skills learned as a runner follow me beyond the run. Always have and always will. Those moments where I don’t think I have it in me to keep going are the same moments that I get through because I remember that even the smallest step forward can get me across 26.2 miles. Those moments where I doubt myself are the same moments where I remember how much I believed in myself when I thought a run was going to break me but didn’t.

We, as humans, want to simplify things and make it run = runner, but it’s actually run = a person who runs. It’s the space between the physical runs that make the runner. That space between holds the commitment, the dedication, and the million tiny choices one makes to feel the best they possibly can while on the run.

So, it doesn’t really matter how many miles you run, how many days a week you run, how many races you’ve ran, or how fast you can run. Yes, those things color the picture of who you are as a runner, but they do not define you as a runner. You have the power to define what being a runner means to you! I encourage you to explore what “runner” means to you and to start owning your identity as a runner. If you are still doubting you may be a runner, go back to that list of questions above and, if any of those apply to you, you’ve got your answer.

You are a runner. I am a runner. We are all runners. Let’s be unapologetic in our ownership of our “runner” identities. The road of life is long, let’s run our hearts along it.

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