can offer a time to be alone and an opportunity to forget about the normal stress of everyday life. It is hard to explain that "runner's high" we all feel upon a run's completion and that uplifting rush of adrenaline all runners get while running. Ask any runner and you'll see that my reasons are not specific to me but rather are the oft-cited reasons given by any mildly serious runner. It's these intangible effects, which are neither contingent on outside forces nor influenced by current affairs, which make running all the more important and beneficial given the increasingly decreasing state of our global economy. In a time where one is hardpressed to turn on the television, read a newspaper or simply have a conversation and not hear about the global recession, running can offer a cheap, easy and incredibly effective way to temporarily get away from it all and provide you with some peace and tranquility in an otherwise not peaceful and not tranquil world.If you, dear readers, are like my friends and remain unconvinced as to the mental benefits of running, one look at the numbers may hopefully provide you with the proof you are seeking. In his article Sluggish Economy Hasn't Slowed Down Runners Or Marathons published on February 27th in the Star-Telegram (Dallas, TX), William Wilkerson writes that, despite the demise of our economy, in a world where thrift seems to be the word of the day, week and month, thousands upon thousands of runners continue to register for marathons across the country at a break-neck pace, "Race directors nationwide have seen an increase in runners, a trend for more than 30 years. Marathon participation has increased by an estimated 387,000 finishers since 1976, according to Running USA, a
nonprofit group that tracks running statistics...Large events that reached their entrant limits this year include Walt Disney World Marathon (45,000), P.F. Chang’s Rock ’n’ Roll Arizona (33,000), Chicago’s Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle (32,500), Chevron Houston Marathon (22,000), ING Miami Marathon (15,000) and the Carlsbad Marathon (10,000)". Since we are all too familiar with the upward trend towards downsizing that has been occurring for the last year or so, it is so refreshing to hear of some area of life that is sustaining itself if not growing even bigger. Of course, it is even better than great when that area is running, something which is obviously near and dear to my heart and legs. Bob Rose's recent article Economics May Return Running Back To Basics published in the Sun Chronicle (Attleboro-North Attleboro, MA) on February 20th, accurately summed up exactly how and why running can flourish in these times of hardship when he wrote, "The most important reason running can gain in a world with less is what it does for the psyche. The malaise that an economic downturn and its consequent job losses produce can devastate a person's morale and sense of self worth. Running has restorative powers that can revitalize the spirit and soul".While, much to the chagrin of my dopeness wife CVSW, I would love to pull a Forrest Gump and just continue running though this recession, I know this wouldn't accomplish anything except cause a rift in my marital life. I am not under any misguided thought that running is a cure-all or a panacea to what is going on in the world around us. It can, however, provide us with a little time to run (pun intended) away from the world and push it's and our problems to a different corral if only for a few minutes every day. With each new day bringing with it more and more bad news, I believe a greater number of people may indeed run to the temporary sanctuary running can provide and, maybe now (or sometime soon) my friends will begin listening to me!
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