Here’s how kindness will make you a better runner

Renowned ultrarunner, coach and co-author (with his wife, Megan Roche) of The Happy Runner, David Roche has some suggestions about how we can practice kindness and positivity toward others in our running and racing, and he explains why science backs this up.

“Lifting others up can lift you up too,” says Roche. “It’s not just psychological, but in how physiology responds to stress. Uplifting emotions may improve running economy. Affirmations reduce cortisol and stress. Even adaptation processes on the cellular level may be improved by a positive neurophysical context,” he adds.

If that’s not enough for you, know that you’ll also have way more fun; whatever the end result of your race, you’ll look back on the experience with more joy.

Celebrate shared experience

While the running community still has a long way to go in supporting diversity and inclusivity, trails do tend to tear down barriers and bond people. Most of us feel far more comfortable talking to strangers on a trail than we would on a street. If you see someone struggling a little out there,  you’ve probably been in that situation yourself, and you have some empathy for them.

That person you stopped to give a salt tablet to mid-race when you noticed them struggling hits the finish-line all smiles and tears, and you’ll feel their success like its you’re own. Roche explains that by building your running community, you will tend to be more process-focused and less results-focused (which was actually, in turn, help you run faster).

Thank every single volunteer and encourage every other runner

If you’ve ever had challenging race, you’ve probably experienced some moments of suffering. Mine, in ultrarunning, often involve struggling to keep enough nutrition in and combat nausea; I find it hard to carry on conversations when I feel that unwell. A much more experienced ultrarunner (who has also combated GI distress) once commented to me that the worse she felt, the more appreciative of the volunteers she tried to be. At first, that seemed unfathomable to me. Be extra thankful when I all I really want to do is cry or throw up?

I set out to test this theory when I ran a backyard ultra earlier in 2022. I dedicated myself to asking questions about others when my brain started to spiral into lowness, and to express my gratitude toward my crew and the race volunteers. That day was a certain kind of magic unlike any other I’ve had, and while I’m sure I can’t chalk it up entirely to practicing being nice, it certainly helped.

Roche sums up the concept of being a beacon of cheer when he says: “Spread the freaking love because life is too short and uncertain and scary to spend it alone, withholding affection.” I can’t argue with that. Even if you’re an introvert like me, up your kindness-game next race. You have absolutely nothing to lose by giving it a try.

You don’t have to be perfect at this–no one is. “The goal isn’t to exude an infallible aura of kindness, but to accept yourself and others as much as you can given the constraints of your background, brain chemistry, and perspective,” says Roche.

posted Thursday August 25th
by Running Magazine