Running is literally one of my favorite things to do. My day does not feel complete unless I get in a run of some sort. I have not always felt this way, however. I ran my very first 5k in 2006 with my dad. I hated every minute of it. It was the longest 45 minutes of my life. I said I would never do that again. Seven years later in 2013, I joined the cross country team. I could not run a mile without stopping and crying. I was so miserable, but I did not want to give up.

For some odd reason, I only wanted to get better at this sport. I then decided to join the track team later that year. Two years later in February of 2015, I ran my first half marathon at the age of fourteen. Nine months later, I ran my first marathon. I was only fifteen. I was not able to legally drive a car, yet I completed a full marathon.

Two years later, I completed another marathon. So by the time I graduated high school, I had trained for and completed two full marathons and a half marathon. I have come to love running in these short six years. I find it to be "fun" in a way. You might be asking yourself, "what kind of freak would run for fun?". I do get asked that a lot and I have yet to be able to find an answer to it.

There are so many reasons as to why I love this activity. Love might be too strong of a word to describe how I feel about it. I love it, but at the same time, I hate it. I think all runners can relate to that feeling. I could go on and on as to why I love running. There are more reasons to love it than to hate. I have narrowed it down to five major reasons why I love to run.