I never knew this would one day apply to runners! ‘You never miss the water till the well runs dry’ was one famous phrase that used to earn me marks while writing essays in my early days in school. Sometimes, it is the hard times in life that reveal to us what we really love about what we do.

All along, as runners, we had been taking so many things for granted until the coronavirus suddenly hit us and everything came to a standstill. For over two years, we wished we could quickly get back to our daily living and running.

According to Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which explains the relationship between action and reaction forces, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that if an object A exerts a force on object B, object B will simultaneously exert an equal force back on object A, but in the opposite direction.

Interestingly, reports indicate that more people were introduced to recreational running during the pandemic, when little else was happening elsewhere.

Below are what most runners missed during the Covid-19 period, and what that hard period taught them to cherish:

Runners love races

There is a lot of fun on race days.

For many runners, it is a time to measure the effectiveness of the training they had been doing, to conquer a new distance, to run their personal best times, to collect more finishers’ medals, to socialize with other runners, to make a positive impact in the society by running towards good causes, and so many others.

Travelling to a new city, visiting the pre-race Expo and being in a race weekend environment is hard to find in any other hobby!

They love watching others in races and competitions

When one is involved in running, they eventually join running groups, either physically or through running Apps like Garmin Connect. They form friendships with other runners and are eager to see how they are doing in a race, even when they aren’t running. Some Running Groups even cut cakes to celebrate when one of their own does well in a race.

During the global championships, they often look forward to watching their own win medals for their country.

Ahead of big city marathons like the London and the Boston marathons, there is always a lot of excitement on the elite start lists and the expected big clashes. Sometimes, it could be a runner from a different country versus another from another country, e.g. Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele versus Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge at the London Marathon.

Runners love training in large groups

There is joy in training in large groups. That’s why some running shoe stores are setting aside some special days in a week when they would organise group runs, and then take advantage of the occasion to advertise their wares.

Hanging on the “exhaust pipe” in a training group and gradually moving up to the “front cabin” is one of the greatest feelings while training in a competitive group.

In some training places in Kenya, there are some groups that do some brutal Tempo Runs that when a runner emerges in the top 50 at the end of the session, they are sure of going out to win their races out of the country.

Training with a definite plan

The primary motivation for most runners to run is an upcoming race. There are typically stages of training that aim to put runners in their peak form near their race dates. That is what I usually consider in my online coaching training programs.

Training can feel challenging when a runner doesn’t have a goal race, as they won’t know when to adjust their training accordingly. There should usually be a loading stage, a maintenance stage, and a tapering stage in a training cycle.

Disadvantaged runners train endlessly to keep physically fit, hoping to be able to take a shorter time coming back to good form once they are assured of upcoming races.

Travelling

Among the people who travel the most in this world are sportspeople, especially runners. While travelling to a city for a race or other reasons, runners often get a rare opportunity to tour the city on foot, jogging and running. Sports tourism is a growing sector of the economy these days, as hospitality companies are entering the market to offer excellent services to sportspeople.

Earning an Income

There is nothing as joyful as earning a living out of a hobby that you love. With the advancement in technology and social media came more ways for runners to earn a living from their running. Some runners rely on their running to provide for their families.

The first category of runners earns a living by being the best in their respective races and winning some prizes. Faster runners also benefit from their running by securing endorsement deals to market running-related products and by earning appearance fees to participate in select competitions.

Another category of runners is those who actively post their running workouts and stories on social media and get paid to review products, market events, and even earn money from their social media followers in various ways.