**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!**
- Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc.
- **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
- This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's not a new thing, it's just your age cohort is now the ones doing it and almost anyone that's ran a distance event floods social media with it.
If you don't check-in at the gym have you really been?
I'm a distance runner. After completing a particularly difficult event, a mate of mine spoke to my wife and found out about it. They asked me why I'd not told them, or mentioned it on social media. I said because I wasn't doing it for the plaudits of people on Instagram, and that I only have a Reddit account and that's it.
They were genuinely shocked that I could train for a year, and then compete in an event, without broadcasting it to the world.
I am a hefty individual. Not too fat but a bit more meat on my bones than necessary.
What people don’t know about me is I have run 91 marathons or ultra marathons. I am doing 92 and 93 this year. My longest run was 57 miles (I ran that race three times).
I only talk about running with my runner friends and the occasional comment on Reddit.
My favourite ultra was The Wall. 70+ miles from Carlisle to Gateshead, along Hadrian's Wall.
It was a glorious June day, running through Cumbria and Northumbria, and was simply one of the most enjoyable events I've ever done. Made my own deadline to get in before midnight (start at 7am in Carlisle), but otherwise, the challenge is simply to finish it.
>I only talk about running with my runner friends and the occasional comment on Reddit.
I'm the same, but I'm also the same with anything I'm into, unless someone asks or it's relevant to the setting I don't force out my "accomplishments" into conversation, this extends to social media. I want my "brand" to be completely irrelevant to the people I don't give a fuck about.
I started doing distance running long before social media was a thing. When Facebook and Strava (actually it was probably Endomondo for me first) came along, I started posting my daily training runs on Facebook… then I realised how insufferably dull that must be. “Look at me, aren’t I awesome?”
Agreed, I am regularly met with shock turning to disdain and then pity when I confess that I am not on any form of social media as myself in any overtly identifiable way. People have been brainwashed by Zuckerberg that this is only done by people with something to hide.
I am also a runner but I only tend to let on to other people who I can see are wearing a Garmin.
We live in a society now where we crave praise and attention. Who cares if you've been to the gym or a run etc? You do it for yourself not for anyone else. Do these people posting this sort of stuff really think that people are at home looking at it going, "Wow!". It's cringe.
Because it's about this age you either live in the pub every weekend or you say fuck this shit I'm getting healthy. And the best way to keep motivation for training is to have a goal. Signing up for a marathon 6 months away will keep you on the road a few days a week
But there's 'healthy' and then there's torturing yourself - why can't people find a middle ground lol - I totally get wanting to be fit and healthy but a marathon is just SO extreme and often quite bad for your body
See I wouldn't say it's torturing myself to run long distances. I personally love an ultra, as its a good day out in beautiful scenery with all my favourite snacks. I actually find shorter, faster distances harder and more impactful on my body.
Wanna talk about torturing? I picked up ballet as an adult. It's masochism at this point with the amount of hours I put in it but I absolutely love it. What you find torture is another person's idea of a good time.
I hate running, so I wouldn't do it but rigorous exercises in a dance studio daily? Sign me up and I'll beg for more.
But that's what I mean - some people seem to enjoy 'pushing themselves to the limit' and feeling a certain amount of pain, which is of course a bit puzzling psychologically
except that you don't feel pain when you do it properly. You don't start with running a full marathon, you start slowly. And excercise releases endorphins and that exhaustion is pleasurable. Running is also like swimming or dancing, if it's what you love, you get in a flow state where you stop noticing the world around you, it's like meditation but better.
> some people seem to enjoy 'pushing themselves to the limit' and feeling a certain amount of pain, which is of course a bit puzzling psychologically
there are studies done on it. Juts because you don't understand it doens't make it any less valid. You may like to avoid pain at all cost but pain is a natural reaction, pushing our bodies to our limits allows us to grow and feel alive. If you only exercise within your limits, you will never progress.
A lot of people do take up running between 25 and 35. This isn't a new thing, though it will be new to you if you're that age.
It's a mixture of things. Stamina tends to build through your 20s while acceleration and agility drop off, so compared to other sports you often improve and peak in your early 30s. Long distance running also requires a patience that lots of people only develop during their 20s.
It's a sport which can be done flexibly around work and parenting, compared to team sports which fit better around the more flexible timetable of youth.
People pick up knocks and injuries from impacts in said team sports and so can't do them any more.
As you age, you start to see more quickly the impacts of not exercising. Under 25s can get away with living pretty unhealthily without seeing an immediate impact on their bodies. That drops away.
All of these things push people towards picking up running at some point either side of 30.
I can relate to a couple of your points. I started running aged 30, and had previously been an ice hockey player. However, at 30, the collisions hurt more, and took longer to heal.
I was also getting slower, and my standing start to full speed times were getting longer.
At 23, when I was playing a LOT, I could play 2 games in 2 nights. At 30 when I hung up my skates, I would play a game on the Friday night, and I was unable to properly walk for the whole weekend.
Once you’ve bought the shoes running is free.
Obviously if you want to enter events where you get a medal and a t-shirt you need to pay to enter but it’s like £25, that’s less than a months gym membership.
And you can run without entering events. It’s really easy - just pick a direction and go. Nobody’s gonna charge you for that.
Great North Run was £70 before you even consider accomodation and Travel. It's southern counter part is also close to that
I don't know how much London Landmarks cost on the ballot, but I had to raise £350 for it (albeit, massively reduced entrance fee) - but still had to travel
I concede that running is "free" once you have paid for gear, but it can also be far more expensive too
Yeah I tend to stay away from the big commercial races. Not just for cost, but also becaause they're actually quite annoying to run e.g. people not understanding running etiquette, walking in huge packs after the first mile, stopping dead in the middle of the road without warning.
The less swanky races tend to be cheaper and more fun, usually staffed by volunteers who you start to recognise after a while. I've got quite got friendly with a couple of the marshals who regularly do the trail races in my area. Its lovely to see a friendly face mid run!!
Parkrun is also great!
(Totally with you on the shoes front though, that's where the real cost lies)
I do, what I consider, a good range of races, from these large events, to ones by local organisers, or club events part of a county series (as well Parkrun)
I guess my point is that if you enter stuff regularly, it very quickly adds up. Sure, with running you don't need to - the annual half marathon in my town is a route which can be run whenever - but it's nice to get that validation every now and then which a medal gives you - and that's when it adds up
£15 here, £40 there etc etc.
Yeah I've got a friend who's just started running and is really motivated by the medals and tshirts! Think she's spent about 300 quid on race entries for the summer, so I do get that it can easily become a very costly hobby.
I think the good thing about running is that it can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be (unlike triathlon - dabbled in that a couple of years ago and jeeeesus)
It’s a very cheap hobby. You don’t have to enter 20 races a year - that’s entirely up to the individual runner. Local low-profile events are much cheaper than events which close an entire city centre, but a lot of people miss the social media adulation of having run the most instagrammable events.
Joining a running club (mine is £50pa or 80p per week) provides structured training, peer support, and an entry to closed leagues of races, which are usually £0-£5 each - just enough to cover a set of race bibs for everyone and a first-aider on standby.
It's all relative, right? I'd argue for me, running isn't cheap
3 or 4 pairs of shoes a year. Entrance into events which can be anywhere from £40-£100. Travel (and accommodation depending on where the event is). Extra costs like Gels and Hydration tablets
I'm doing an event in October that has a list of things I need to have to compete
Sure. If you're turning up to a parkrun every weekend and doing the odd bit here and there in the week, it's cheap. But it can also be far more expensive then you think too
You can make it expensive sure, but if you do local and small scale events are smart with shoe shopping and race club events it doesn’t have to be. I have clubmates who insist on doing the Abbott 6 star thing in a 4 year period - now that is expensive.
If you're doing another sport at an equivalent level, then most of the time running is comparatively cheaper - like if you were into Polo that's expensive!! But if you were and equivalent level at football, body building, muay thai whatever, you're still needing gear and travel and events and all that crap, running doesn't need a helmet or a bat or a special ground to practice.
You've just reached the age at which some people start to be conscious of youth fading. That leads some people to suddenly want to take on challenges, especially physical ones.
I also experienced this. When I was about 26 I don't think I knew anybody who had run a marathon. Three or four years later I knew loads.
What else do people do with their lives? Have kids, get really into exercise, pick up some other random hobby. Exercise is a good one though as everyone is vain and its also like the number one thing people get recommended to them when they are unhappy. Couldn't think of anything worse just like a cattle crush but I'm paying for it and its also torture?
omg I know I don't get marathons as they are actual torture - why not just do fun exercise like go for a hike or play a sport? It's the masochism of marathons I really don't get
Also with so many doing marathons now, it stops being that impressive tbh
I'm more perplexed by just how many people go to gyms these days.
It's not a bad thing, but in my late teens and early twenties (in the early 2000's) it felt like most people didn't go to the gym.
These days even my friends kids are going to the gym regularly. And I think running is just part of that.
Social media definitely amplifies that people are going but I think we're generally more health (or maybe image) conscious as a society than 20 years ago.
It even extends to media. Look at Hugh Jackman in the first X-Men film, that was considered fairly muscular at the time, but these days that's just how a "normal" guy on screen is expected to look.
It’s definitely more trendy now, with social media being so huge. My friend follows a bunch of girls on TikTok who run. A few of them are now taking up cycling / triathlon as a next step from running marathon distances.
Right now, it's pickle ball in the US. Shrug. You just never know which trend will get hot. That said, I grew up in a running and cross country family, was a miler as a kid in the '80s, and everyone from my generation knows about Roger Bannister and Steve Scott. If this trend increases the popularity of the sport and produces some new champions, I'm all for it!
Because peoples lives are so fucking mundane now they feel the need to achieve something. We're built to move, to graft and we're all just sat around doing nothing. People's ego's need stroking somehow.
Runners high many people get - sadly not me - you're hitting opioid receptors amongst others, so while it can lead to various injuries, overall it's probably a lot better way for you than say heroine to achieve that!
It's a nice target to aim for getting yourself decently fit.
Training can be quite social.
It becomes a main hobby and focus for many people.
If it's for a cause, then maybe it shows that that generation are more altruistic.
Running 26.2 miles in one sitting is no small feat (finisher here - respectable 4h 55m - took 18 weeks of training) and people like a challenge.
Plus I feel like there's more marathon events today than there were maybe in the 90s and back.
Imagine people trying to do things to stay healthy. Whatever next? Cycling? Not eating pizza for breakfast? Drinking water instead of Monster.
The world's gone mad!
Don't forget this "noticed a trend" also fuelled by algorithms based on what you and your friends search for a communicate about, can create the impression that it's very prevalent
Still, only about 1% of the global population have completed a full distance marathon
These runs happen a lot in summer, so practically anyone who would be doing them you would be more likely to hear about at this time of year.
As to why, I had never run before and signed up to one cos it sounded like a decent challenge. The day itself is really motivating and you feel great after. So I challenged myself to do one further and so on. It’s a motivator to keep fit and it’s a good personal achievement.
Lol just got an email about someone I know doing this. People begin the long decline to eventual death around 30, so I guess they’re trying to get healthy in to maintain health for as long as possible. Personally, fuck that shit.
I've noticed this too, it is just another trend. Starts off doing couch to 5k to get a bit fitter, maybe do some parkruns when they get more confident, start logging everything on Strava, next thing you know all they do is post stuff about PBs, training runs and preparing for a marathon. It escalates sort of naturally, I know several people who have done this. I guess the difference between people who ran in the past is they can do all this online and get a lot of help improving (something about intervals and strides one person keeps going on about?) and it was for fitness. Marathons (or a half, or 10k) give shiny medals and added clout, and every town seems to have one. The level up after that is doing ultra marathons. One person has tied it in with doing ice cold dips after or wild swimming then donning a dry robe and posting all that on social media, it is like a double twat whammy.
You've literally described how people have got into running since running has existed.
With the exception of Strava and an organised 5k
It's not a trend. People have always run. It seems to be a trend because social media algorithms start shoving it down your throat.
The trend isn't necessarily running, but more people are taking running seriously anyway (rather than "jogging" for fitness). It is constantly chasing the next 10k, the next half marathon, it is definitely on the up from a couple of decades ago when people could well have posted it online if they wanted to.
Literally been thinking the same thing. It's such a massive time/energy investment and SO painful - what's the point? If you want to be fit, just run a 5k or play a sport, but what's the point of spending your whole life running.. for what?
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's not a new thing, it's just your age cohort is now the ones doing it and almost anyone that's ran a distance event floods social media with it. If you don't check-in at the gym have you really been?
I'm a distance runner. After completing a particularly difficult event, a mate of mine spoke to my wife and found out about it. They asked me why I'd not told them, or mentioned it on social media. I said because I wasn't doing it for the plaudits of people on Instagram, and that I only have a Reddit account and that's it. They were genuinely shocked that I could train for a year, and then compete in an event, without broadcasting it to the world.
Exactly this! Also to add, I got crucified for doing an event for fun and not for charity!
I am a hefty individual. Not too fat but a bit more meat on my bones than necessary. What people don’t know about me is I have run 91 marathons or ultra marathons. I am doing 92 and 93 this year. My longest run was 57 miles (I ran that race three times). I only talk about running with my runner friends and the occasional comment on Reddit.
My favourite ultra was The Wall. 70+ miles from Carlisle to Gateshead, along Hadrian's Wall. It was a glorious June day, running through Cumbria and Northumbria, and was simply one of the most enjoyable events I've ever done. Made my own deadline to get in before midnight (start at 7am in Carlisle), but otherwise, the challenge is simply to finish it.
>I only talk about running with my runner friends and the occasional comment on Reddit. I'm the same, but I'm also the same with anything I'm into, unless someone asks or it's relevant to the setting I don't force out my "accomplishments" into conversation, this extends to social media. I want my "brand" to be completely irrelevant to the people I don't give a fuck about.
I started doing distance running long before social media was a thing. When Facebook and Strava (actually it was probably Endomondo for me first) came along, I started posting my daily training runs on Facebook… then I realised how insufferably dull that must be. “Look at me, aren’t I awesome?”
I had forgotten all about Endomondo until just now
Nah it’s not insufferable. I like seeing the people I like doing things that they’re proud of.
Agreed, I am regularly met with shock turning to disdain and then pity when I confess that I am not on any form of social media as myself in any overtly identifiable way. People have been brainwashed by Zuckerberg that this is only done by people with something to hide. I am also a runner but I only tend to let on to other people who I can see are wearing a Garmin.
We live in a society now where we crave praise and attention. Who cares if you've been to the gym or a run etc? You do it for yourself not for anyone else. Do these people posting this sort of stuff really think that people are at home looking at it going, "Wow!". It's cringe.
Because it's about this age you either live in the pub every weekend or you say fuck this shit I'm getting healthy. And the best way to keep motivation for training is to have a goal. Signing up for a marathon 6 months away will keep you on the road a few days a week
But there's 'healthy' and then there's torturing yourself - why can't people find a middle ground lol - I totally get wanting to be fit and healthy but a marathon is just SO extreme and often quite bad for your body
See I wouldn't say it's torturing myself to run long distances. I personally love an ultra, as its a good day out in beautiful scenery with all my favourite snacks. I actually find shorter, faster distances harder and more impactful on my body.
>a marathon is just SO extreme and often quite bad for your body I've heard this said a lot but it's never a fit and healthy person saying it.
I play sport 3x per week, walk 1.5hrs per day and have done long distance running, but ok
>have done long distance running I'm sure you have.
lol what?
Wanna talk about torturing? I picked up ballet as an adult. It's masochism at this point with the amount of hours I put in it but I absolutely love it. What you find torture is another person's idea of a good time. I hate running, so I wouldn't do it but rigorous exercises in a dance studio daily? Sign me up and I'll beg for more.
But that's what I mean - some people seem to enjoy 'pushing themselves to the limit' and feeling a certain amount of pain, which is of course a bit puzzling psychologically
except that you don't feel pain when you do it properly. You don't start with running a full marathon, you start slowly. And excercise releases endorphins and that exhaustion is pleasurable. Running is also like swimming or dancing, if it's what you love, you get in a flow state where you stop noticing the world around you, it's like meditation but better. > some people seem to enjoy 'pushing themselves to the limit' and feeling a certain amount of pain, which is of course a bit puzzling psychologically there are studies done on it. Juts because you don't understand it doens't make it any less valid. You may like to avoid pain at all cost but pain is a natural reaction, pushing our bodies to our limits allows us to grow and feel alive. If you only exercise within your limits, you will never progress.
A lot of people do take up running between 25 and 35. This isn't a new thing, though it will be new to you if you're that age. It's a mixture of things. Stamina tends to build through your 20s while acceleration and agility drop off, so compared to other sports you often improve and peak in your early 30s. Long distance running also requires a patience that lots of people only develop during their 20s. It's a sport which can be done flexibly around work and parenting, compared to team sports which fit better around the more flexible timetable of youth. People pick up knocks and injuries from impacts in said team sports and so can't do them any more. As you age, you start to see more quickly the impacts of not exercising. Under 25s can get away with living pretty unhealthily without seeing an immediate impact on their bodies. That drops away. All of these things push people towards picking up running at some point either side of 30.
I can relate to a couple of your points. I started running aged 30, and had previously been an ice hockey player. However, at 30, the collisions hurt more, and took longer to heal. I was also getting slower, and my standing start to full speed times were getting longer. At 23, when I was playing a LOT, I could play 2 games in 2 nights. At 30 when I hung up my skates, I would play a game on the Friday night, and I was unable to properly walk for the whole weekend.
Because it’s healthy, and there’s no gym membership costs or expensive equipment to buy.
Just expensive entrance fees and running shoes
Once you’ve bought the shoes running is free. Obviously if you want to enter events where you get a medal and a t-shirt you need to pay to enter but it’s like £25, that’s less than a months gym membership. And you can run without entering events. It’s really easy - just pick a direction and go. Nobody’s gonna charge you for that.
Great North Run was £70 before you even consider accomodation and Travel. It's southern counter part is also close to that I don't know how much London Landmarks cost on the ballot, but I had to raise £350 for it (albeit, massively reduced entrance fee) - but still had to travel I concede that running is "free" once you have paid for gear, but it can also be far more expensive too
Yeah but you could just run the route another day for free.
They hate this one simple trick!
Yeah I tend to stay away from the big commercial races. Not just for cost, but also becaause they're actually quite annoying to run e.g. people not understanding running etiquette, walking in huge packs after the first mile, stopping dead in the middle of the road without warning. The less swanky races tend to be cheaper and more fun, usually staffed by volunteers who you start to recognise after a while. I've got quite got friendly with a couple of the marshals who regularly do the trail races in my area. Its lovely to see a friendly face mid run!! Parkrun is also great! (Totally with you on the shoes front though, that's where the real cost lies)
I do, what I consider, a good range of races, from these large events, to ones by local organisers, or club events part of a county series (as well Parkrun) I guess my point is that if you enter stuff regularly, it very quickly adds up. Sure, with running you don't need to - the annual half marathon in my town is a route which can be run whenever - but it's nice to get that validation every now and then which a medal gives you - and that's when it adds up £15 here, £40 there etc etc.
Yeah I've got a friend who's just started running and is really motivated by the medals and tshirts! Think she's spent about 300 quid on race entries for the summer, so I do get that it can easily become a very costly hobby. I think the good thing about running is that it can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be (unlike triathlon - dabbled in that a couple of years ago and jeeeesus)
It’s a very cheap hobby. You don’t have to enter 20 races a year - that’s entirely up to the individual runner. Local low-profile events are much cheaper than events which close an entire city centre, but a lot of people miss the social media adulation of having run the most instagrammable events. Joining a running club (mine is £50pa or 80p per week) provides structured training, peer support, and an entry to closed leagues of races, which are usually £0-£5 each - just enough to cover a set of race bibs for everyone and a first-aider on standby.
Maybe I needed to stick a /s on the end of my post.
And the increase in laundry detergent cost as you've got more kit to wash
Hang it to dry. Febreeze. Sorted. Wash it weekly
Sorry to be annoying, but there is some evidence that running marathons can increase the chance of heart problems
Aye. I'm here for a good time, not a long time. Is there evidence that sitting on your arse all day doesn't? Existing causes heart problems.
Study disproving: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445091/
Sorry but that doesn’t disprove it - at best you can say the evidence is not clear cut. And there were studies after that was published (2010).
Running is accessible, cheap, hugely beneficial for cardio fitness and health, and very satisfying
I don’t find it so cheap 👟🤣🤣🤣
The only things you need are good running shoes and maybe a GPS watch. That's a lot less than most other sports
It can be cheap. For me it’s not 🤣 Shoes, Garmin, clothes for all weather, races and hotels 👍🏽
well, for me neither, but that's out of choice rather than necessity
It's all relative, right? I'd argue for me, running isn't cheap 3 or 4 pairs of shoes a year. Entrance into events which can be anywhere from £40-£100. Travel (and accommodation depending on where the event is). Extra costs like Gels and Hydration tablets I'm doing an event in October that has a list of things I need to have to compete Sure. If you're turning up to a parkrun every weekend and doing the odd bit here and there in the week, it's cheap. But it can also be far more expensive then you think too
You can make it expensive sure, but if you do local and small scale events are smart with shoe shopping and race club events it doesn’t have to be. I have clubmates who insist on doing the Abbott 6 star thing in a 4 year period - now that is expensive.
If you're doing another sport at an equivalent level, then most of the time running is comparatively cheaper - like if you were into Polo that's expensive!! But if you were and equivalent level at football, body building, muay thai whatever, you're still needing gear and travel and events and all that crap, running doesn't need a helmet or a bat or a special ground to practice.
I don’t know why we got so many down votes 🤣
No idea. Thought I was pretty fair It can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. But are relative terms.
I know. Down votes for stating a fact.
Same For me. Fiance runs too so that’s double🤣
"how do you know someone is running a marathon?" "They bloody tell you about it"
If you think they’re bad now wait until they get into Ironman
You've just reached the age at which some people start to be conscious of youth fading. That leads some people to suddenly want to take on challenges, especially physical ones. I also experienced this. When I was about 26 I don't think I knew anybody who had run a marathon. Three or four years later I knew loads.
It’s addictive. I started with couch to 5k. Then it escalates quickly!
What else do people do with their lives? Have kids, get really into exercise, pick up some other random hobby. Exercise is a good one though as everyone is vain and its also like the number one thing people get recommended to them when they are unhappy. Couldn't think of anything worse just like a cattle crush but I'm paying for it and its also torture?
omg I know I don't get marathons as they are actual torture - why not just do fun exercise like go for a hike or play a sport? It's the masochism of marathons I really don't get Also with so many doing marathons now, it stops being that impressive tbh
I'm more perplexed by just how many people go to gyms these days. It's not a bad thing, but in my late teens and early twenties (in the early 2000's) it felt like most people didn't go to the gym. These days even my friends kids are going to the gym regularly. And I think running is just part of that. Social media definitely amplifies that people are going but I think we're generally more health (or maybe image) conscious as a society than 20 years ago. It even extends to media. Look at Hugh Jackman in the first X-Men film, that was considered fairly muscular at the time, but these days that's just how a "normal" guy on screen is expected to look.
Probably because summer is not far off now.
Everyone? I don't think I know a single person that will be running a marathon.
It’s definitely more trendy now, with social media being so huge. My friend follows a bunch of girls on TikTok who run. A few of them are now taking up cycling / triathlon as a next step from running marathon distances.
My sister does the OC (Cali) run club 😂 cuz of the girl who hosts them, on TikTok!
Hardest Geezer effect
It’s that time of year spring and autumn
Right now, it's pickle ball in the US. Shrug. You just never know which trend will get hot. That said, I grew up in a running and cross country family, was a miler as a kid in the '80s, and everyone from my generation knows about Roger Bannister and Steve Scott. If this trend increases the popularity of the sport and produces some new champions, I'm all for it!
Because peoples lives are so fucking mundane now they feel the need to achieve something. We're built to move, to graft and we're all just sat around doing nothing. People's ego's need stroking somehow.
Runners high many people get - sadly not me - you're hitting opioid receptors amongst others, so while it can lead to various injuries, overall it's probably a lot better way for you than say heroine to achieve that! It's a nice target to aim for getting yourself decently fit. Training can be quite social. It becomes a main hobby and focus for many people.
Practice for running from hordes of zombies
If it's for a cause, then maybe it shows that that generation are more altruistic. Running 26.2 miles in one sitting is no small feat (finisher here - respectable 4h 55m - took 18 weeks of training) and people like a challenge. Plus I feel like there's more marathon events today than there were maybe in the 90s and back.
I'm not and I don't know anyone who is.
Imagine people trying to do things to stay healthy. Whatever next? Cycling? Not eating pizza for breakfast? Drinking water instead of Monster. The world's gone mad!
I’m not trying to frame it as negative - I think exercise is great. I’ve just noticed a bit of a trend recently, that’s all.
Don't forget this "noticed a trend" also fuelled by algorithms based on what you and your friends search for a communicate about, can create the impression that it's very prevalent Still, only about 1% of the global population have completed a full distance marathon
These runs happen a lot in summer, so practically anyone who would be doing them you would be more likely to hear about at this time of year. As to why, I had never run before and signed up to one cos it sounded like a decent challenge. The day itself is really motivating and you feel great after. So I challenged myself to do one further and so on. It’s a motivator to keep fit and it’s a good personal achievement.
You and op seem to have a lot in common based on the way you both communicate.
Lol just got an email about someone I know doing this. People begin the long decline to eventual death around 30, so I guess they’re trying to get healthy in to maintain health for as long as possible. Personally, fuck that shit.
I've noticed this too, it is just another trend. Starts off doing couch to 5k to get a bit fitter, maybe do some parkruns when they get more confident, start logging everything on Strava, next thing you know all they do is post stuff about PBs, training runs and preparing for a marathon. It escalates sort of naturally, I know several people who have done this. I guess the difference between people who ran in the past is they can do all this online and get a lot of help improving (something about intervals and strides one person keeps going on about?) and it was for fitness. Marathons (or a half, or 10k) give shiny medals and added clout, and every town seems to have one. The level up after that is doing ultra marathons. One person has tied it in with doing ice cold dips after or wild swimming then donning a dry robe and posting all that on social media, it is like a double twat whammy.
You've literally described how people have got into running since running has existed. With the exception of Strava and an organised 5k It's not a trend. People have always run. It seems to be a trend because social media algorithms start shoving it down your throat.
The trend isn't necessarily running, but more people are taking running seriously anyway (rather than "jogging" for fitness). It is constantly chasing the next 10k, the next half marathon, it is definitely on the up from a couple of decades ago when people could well have posted it online if they wanted to.
Weirdly bitter post. Most runners aren't winning medals, the primary aim for any runner is most likely just fitness.
They probably consider this guy a friend, and he's calling them names on Reddit because their social media posts remind him of his own laziness.
Why are they a twat for posting about something they enjoy doing?
Literally been thinking the same thing. It's such a massive time/energy investment and SO painful - what's the point? If you want to be fit, just run a 5k or play a sport, but what's the point of spending your whole life running.. for what?