We use excuse after excuse (after excuse) to not take on the runner title. But if you lace up sneakers to hit the road, track, trail, or treadmill, you are a runner—and these people are living proof.
My old excuse: “I don’t run that often”
How to Be a Runner: Clayton Young
“I’m an athlete, not a runner.” It was as if Jackson had been taught that you had to choose between the two, and the Louisiana Department of Education staffer told herself that running was just a form of conditioning. But then Jackson signed up for multiple road-trip-required 5Ks within a few months, and that’s when she grasped the extent of her commitment. “It wasn’t an either-or situation. I could be an athlete who enjoys running and a runner who participates in other activities,” she says. Jackson joined her local Black Girls Run! club and now runs once or twice a week while also taking other fitness classes. “Just because I’m not logging miles every day doesn’t mean I’m any less of a runner.”
RELATED: In Defense of the Word “Jogger&rdquo Strength Training Guide from Runner’s World.
My old excuse: “I have a disability”
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“No feet, no excuses.” That’s what’s emblazoned on Farler’s chest as he competes in races as an amputee. But he wasn’t always a believer: In 2006, a dog scratch led to a life-threatening strep infection, coma, and eventually a double lower-leg amputation; the first four years postsurgery found him spiraling into a debilitating depression. In 2011, though, Farler was asked to join the board of the Amputee Blade Runners in Nashville. “The organization provides sports prostheses to amputees, and I realized I wanted to start looking the part,” he recalls. So he ran a 5K for charity and was instantly hooked. He’s now done half marathons, Kimberly Nuzingah Bradley, 36, Atlanta Boston Marathon. “I may be missing my legs, but I’m alive. Running is a powerful way to celebrate that.”
My old excuse: “I’m not healthy enough”
Paige Jackson, 31, New Orleans
“I was 400 pounds and struggling with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) when my doctor told me to shape up,” Bradley says. So the plus-size wellness coach hit the hiking trails because, as an asthmatic, she told herself she couldn’t be a runner—breathing would be too hard. But when Bradley’s PCOS symptoms and complications (irregular periods, prediabetes, mild depression) continued to bother her despite moving more, a friend convinced her to train for a 15K. “PCOS can make it hard to lose weight, but having a finish line as the goal reframed my idea of health,” she says. She went on to finish 15 races within a year and hasn’t stopped. “Now that I’m a consistent runner, my menstrual cycle is more regular. And my asthma? I rarely need that inhaler.”
RELATED: 5 Breathing Fixes to Take Every Workout to the Next Level
My old excuse: “I don’t run that far”
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In his mid-30s, Barcelona was busy trying to be the best husband, father, and health and science teacher when he realized exercise needed to be in his schedule. “My weight had reached 186 pounds, and I was diagnosed with high blood pressure,” he says. But he thought his short, casual runs didn’t make him a runner—until the Boston Marathon bombings happened. “I knew I needed to honor the lives lost, so I signed up for a tribute run,” Barcelona recalls. “That’s when it finally clicked that it didn’t matter how far I ran.” Today, he joins local running groups as a mentor for new runners. “I remember how I felt when I started, and I want to help people feel confident in their abilities.”
My old excuse: “I don’t look like a runner”
How to Be a Runner: Clayton Young
“You’re fat. If you don’t lose weight, you’re going to die.” Those words were tough for the 370-pound former football player to hear in 2012, but his doctor’s blunt delivery was needed. Evans stepped on a treadmill that same day, determined to get through a Couch to 5K program. But he noticed others’ stares. “It was a mental challenge to keep going when others commented about my size or laughed,” he says. The marketing manager kept at it, though, and a year and a half after that doctor’s appointment, he signed up to run 26.2 miles—a feat he finished in 6:46. “I realized it didn’t matter if someone thought I was too big. All I had to do was put in the work and trust my training.”
My old excuse: “I don’t like to race”
In Defense of the Word “Jogger&rdquo
As a mom of four, Sutherland knows a thing or two about time management. The one clock she doesn’t watch? The one on a race course. “I ran the Hartford Marathon as a bucket list item, but it made me realize that I didn’t need a fast finish time to prove that I’m a runner,” she says. “As much as I enjoyed the cheering crowds and the five-hour break from chasing my kids, the medal didn’t really matter to me.” Instead, the registered dietitian prefers short runs that she ends feeling healthy and strong. Without a competitive bone in her body, she only signs up to run events that benefit charitable causes. “Still, I like to set a healthy example for my clients and kids. Running is one of the most accessible ways to stay fit, so why wouldn’t I do it?”
Karla Walsh is a Des Moines, Iowa-based freelance writer, editor, freelance writing coach and level one sommelier who balances her love of food and drink with her passion for fitness (or tries to, at least!). She has over 15 years of professional experience covering food, wine, travel, nutrition, health, fitness, psychology, beauty, relationships and beyond.
