How and why did you start running? [150 word challenge]

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swittle Oct 2019 11:19am, 1 Oct 2019 57,247 posts	swittle Great result, Neal
mulbs Oct 2019 11:30am, 1 Oct 2019 13,503 posts	mulbs Slowly and without any grace or style and mostly hating it, until I found my pace. A friend asked me to run a new race that was starting - the Liverpool Women's 10k. Couldn't even run half a mile without thinking I was going to die at first, but one day realised it didn't get any worse after the first 5 mins, and then actually started enjoying it. Still run slowly and with no grace or style!
Tux4me Dec 2019 11:22pm, 23 Dec 2019 2 posts	Tux4me I have absolutely no idea why. Sat down one day and out of the blue said to my wife "If I start now do you think I could run a marathon before I'm 60? (I'd just turned 58) - people 3 streets away probably heard her laughing! I'd done no excercise since leaving school. Found C25K, discovered Parkrun, pulled a calf muscle, rested, building up again now. I've surprised myself at how much I enjoy running.
ChrisHB Dec 2019 11:50pm, 23 Dec 2019 18,665 posts	ChrisHB 1) No, you can't do woodwork instead of rugby, you must do cross-country running. 2) At the age of 18, free from the constraints of school, I decided I was going to run always and thus be healthier than most of my contemporaries. Little did I know then that I was simply a small part of a change in fashion. 3) When running became really popular and you could get books about it from the library, or magazines, I discovered that it was possible to train and become better. 4) With Fetch came a friendly competitive element - the training league / how many miles you could get from a pair of trainers / assorted games - and I fell for it.
HappyG(rrr) Mar 2025 9:21pm, 31 Mar 2025 52,321 posts	HappyG(rrr) I forgot what a great read this thread was. Boing! For anyone joined in last 5-ish years! G
Mark J 🇳🇿 Mar 2025 9:39pm, 31 Mar 2025 8,758 posts	Mark J 🇳🇿 I've been on Fetch since July 2008 but didn't really follow forum threads until the last few years, so missed this. (Does this preamble count towards for 150 words?) I started running in my early 40's. Mainly to keep up with my wife's lovely bum and to kind of sort my unhealthy lifestyle. I was still a smoker at that point too. It took me another 6 years of stop start before I was completely free of the habit. Up until November 2022 it was just a nice hobby and a way of keeping health-ish. Then something kicked me up the arse and now I take in a bit too seriously but I'm loving the results and achieving way more than an (ex) short fat old bloke should do. I'm just going to keep pushing until age inevitably slows me back down. Fetch has definitely been a huge supporting factor.
HappyG(rrr) Apr 2025 7:58am, 2 Apr 2025 52,334 posts	HappyG(rrr) Yay! Good to hear your story @Mark J 🇳🇿 G
Gobi 3 Mar 11:58am, 3 Mar 2026 83,638 posts	Gobi No Exciting story Ran as a kid - 4.37 mile and 16min 5km as a teen Played football , was the fit kid ( so ran a sub 1.30 half off a longest run of 8miles) Retired from football and entered races Ran 4.58 for a mile and 16.xx for 5k in my 30s - won some marathons and ultras Got broken badly In my 50s now - ran a 5.03 miles and have run 16.xx for 5km I'm broken , shouldn't run (doctors say so) and tell people I am a cyclist who jogs a bit.
HappyG(rrr) 3 Mar 12:11pm, 3 Mar 2026 55,170 posts	HappyG(rrr) Boing, for any new to Fetch, or... like Gobi ( ) very old to Fetch, but just never seen this thread! Tell us your tale! G
Gobi 3 Mar 12:15pm, 3 Mar 2026 83,639 posts	Gobi @HappyG(rrr) every so often something appears and you think I should have contributed to this, then you read through and realise you haven't :¬)