The intimacy of running
Some thoughts on what makes running so great, plus a new section focusing on the race
Recently, I’ve been thinking about why running becomes so important to us. I’ve kept coming back to the idea of how intimate the sport can be.
We experience intimacy in so many different ways throughout our lives, and even within a day. While the intimacy between lovers is often the first thing that comes to mind, consider the more pedestrian occurrence of feeding someone or of helping someone dress themselves. Think about the level of care and trust that requires. It’s what a parent does for their child. It’s what the closest of friends would do for you when you need it most.
For me, intimacy is sharing a vulnerable moment with someone else. For me, that intimacy is key to the beauty of running.
Runners often talk about the art of discovering more about themselves as we push our bodies and minds on a run. We find our limits, and we find our support structures through that. We find our people.
On an individual level, there’s an intimacy to understanding your body more fully as you move through your running journey, but there’s also an intimacy to trusting your physical and mental health to a coach and the training plan they draw up for your race-specific goals. You trust that they understand your body’s capabilities even better than you do. You’re trusting that they can bring the best out of you. Whether you succeed or not, you’re sharing that moment with another person.
In a run club or a race situation, when you pause at the end, gasping for breath, nobody cares how disheveled and sweaty you look. After a serious workout, you might be full of emotion — whether that’s satisfaction, frustration, pain, or elation — and, again, you’re sharing that moment with those around you. It’s a moment that you might want to share.
Think about the person who’s waiting on the edge of a race to hand you a fresh bottle of electrolytes. Or the ones waiting for you at the end to celebrate. Consider the intimacy with those in your life who understand the needs at the core of your being. Those are immediate and unbreakable bonds.
I have run club friends who I’ve known for years, but have never had their phone number. Maybe that’s a product of Web 3.0 making us so digitally interconnected that SMS text messages have become unnecessary in certain situations, but the way we carry on a conversation from a week earlier so seamlessly is a beautiful act.
It’s all these layers of intimacy, perhaps, that make runners want to share their sport with their nearest and dearest non-runners. This explains why this intimacy builds community so easily and so strongly, and why we are so proud and protective of the spaces that we’ve created for us to be vulnerable in.
Last week on Running Sucks
The Salton Sea Run that I wrote about last week was postponed to this weekend, but the Los Angeles-adjacent story is worth reading for those engaged in a positive future for this planet. Anyone who’s watched Mad Max understands the importance of water.
I also published an interview with
where we talk about her marathon journey, my creative journey, and the curious place that those themes converge AKA The Portal.
Race perspective: Los Angeles Marathon
A new bit I’m trying out is getting race perspectives from runners in this community. After spending the morning on the sidelines, I asked Mark Steidler of Silver Lake Track Club about his race day.
“Vibes were riding high. I was pacing a group of ambitious sub-4 runners who put in a ton of work over the last few months through our run club. This was also an opportunity to dial in my own nutrition plan as I'm a notorious Mile 22 bonker.”
“You know the ‘I'm not in here with you. You're in here with ME,’ meme from Watchmen? That's what it felt like running with this crew. After nailing our goal of 9 miles in 90 minutes, I let them do their thing, ever so slightly faster than the agreed-upon 9:00 pace. At Mile 22, my stomach was settled, they were dialed in, and we let it rip. 4 hours never stood a chance.”
“I crossed the finish line with a first-time marathoner, Jamie, clocking a 3:51 marathon debut. This might go down as my favorite marathon: the crowds absolutely brought it, the weather was immaculate, and I got to have a front-row seat to a new crop of runners catching the bug.”
And it looked like the perfect race from where I was standing. Get in touch if you’d like to contribute a race perspective in the future.
Read my profile of Silver Lake Track Club’s Howie Goldklang from 2024.
Previously on Running Sucks
There are so many ways that running culture is furthered, but one of the visual methods is through clothes and fashion. A year ago, I spoke to the founder of Acid Running to highlight how they use another aspect — embracing the mentally difficult side of this sport — within their garments.
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Running Sucks Haiku of the Week
LA Marathon
A big day in the city
Saw so many friends
I posted up at Mile 8 with friends from LA Craft Runners and LA Cinephile Run Club outside the Vista Theater on Sunset Boulevard. Some photos to come very soon. They’ll be on Instagram first, so check me out over there.
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Thanks for reading
Raz x
I think you've pin pointed what it is in running that connects every runner interacting in a space or event- intimacy.
I thought perhaps it was a shared hardship, 'the run', but what is that but intimacy.
For me, it is the intimacy and connection that means everything.
The vanity metrics are just that.....vanity metrics. 1,000 miles versus 5,000 miles.....what's the difference?
Mathematically it is 4,000 miles but if they are hollow then give me the 1,000 full meaning miles over the additional 4,000 that don't allow me to connect with others and others to connect with me.