Why running matters to me

In March 2026, I finally went back to a parkrun course I’d helped try out before it officially opened. That trial had been in 2018. Apparently, I’d taken my time about the return visit.

The reason for going back was a friend. I’d met him through running more than ten years earlier, and he was the run director that morning. We managed a quick hello before the start, with a proper catch-up planned for afterwards.

I walked the 5 km course between Perth Stadium and the Swan River. There were runners moving past, people chatting, volunteers encouraging us along, and others walking the whole way too. I remember the light on the river and how relaxed the morning felt.

It was good to be there.

The part that happens afterwards

Once his event duties were finished, we headed for coffee. We hadn’t caught up for a while, so there was plenty to talk about. More than an hour disappeared quite comfortably.

Some of the conversation went back to the early parkrun days in Perth, when we kept seeing familiar faces at different events. Much of it was simply catching up on life.

Running had introduced us. By then, we had years of friendship to talk about as well.

That’s a part of running I find difficult to explain through an activity record. The distance is there. Perhaps a time, a route, and a few numbers. The conversation over coffee doesn’t get much of a look-in, although it may be the bit I remember longest.

Something that lasts beyond a training block

When you first think about running, the visible part is fairly obvious. Someone moving along a path, getting fitter, preparing for an event. You can picture the exercise without seeing much of the life around it.

Then, sometimes, a familiar face becomes someone you stop to talk to. You arrange to meet again. Eventually there’s a person in your life who knows a fair bit more about you than your preferred distance.

That has been one of the lasting pleasures of running for me. My own participation has changed over the years, but some of the friendships have stayed.

It won’t happen in exactly that way for everyone. Some people love running alone, and a pleasant morning can remain a pleasant morning without becoming the start of anything else. I’m simply glad I made that return visit.

If you’re thinking about what movement means to you, the answer might include something that happens before you set off or after you finish. Company can be a perfectly good reason to put a walk in the calendar.

I walked the course that Saturday. I caught up with an old friend. By the time I left the café, I’d had a very good running morning.