When I ask you to think of a runner, who comes to mind?

Do you imagine pro athletes, who can keep their feet moving for hours on end and run at speeds many of us can’t generate, not even to cross the street to save our lives from an approaching car? Are they dressed in the latest high-tech athletic apparel and wearing the newest super shoes? While the people you’re picturing are indeed runners, they represent just the smallest fraction of them all.

Do you picture a runner who “checks all the boxes?” Lace up and get a few miles in every day—check. Hit a specific (and definitely high) weekly mileage—check. Periodically rotate through all the various types of runs—check. Race a marathon—check. These may represent goals and milestones for some, but they don’t define a runner.

I want to tell you about when I became a runner and what that word means to me.

Read the rest on Runner’s World website.