Half Marathon - 5 REASONS WHY YOU run one
By K10 Patel / Dec 2nd 2023
I really love half marathons, and everything associated with them. I have run many of them and will continue to sign up for half marathons. The training leading up to the race, the mixture of different strength training workouts, the increase in mileage every week, and the race itself. The whole process is euphoric. Even though I have gone through the process many times, I learn something new about myself and enjoy it even more than the last time around.
I don’t really see it as competitive in terms of trying to win the race since I’m not an elite marathon runner. The only person I’m competing with is myself and trying to beat my half marathon PR. However, not all half marathons I run are for trying to beat my previous PR. I run some races for the experience and to enjoy the sense of the running community in an organized event.
During a larger half marathon race event, we are all running together, and you see thousands of runner in waves. Just the sheer presence of being amongst the runners during such a large event with the same purpose of completing 13.1 miles is an awesome feeling.
Except for the elite runners who are allocated at the front of the pack, a lot of people running are doing their first half marathon and set a PR by default. Others running these half marathons are there for many different reasons. Here is my take on why you should run a half marathon.
1. For the Experience and Sense of Accomplishment
I view the half marathon as a very doable distance for anybody at any age. A full marathon requires a larger commitment out of your week and can get brutal towards the higher-end mileage weeks. If a full marathon is your forte, kudos to you. A half marathon training program leaves your reasonable time in your schedule for other things, all while gaining endurance and staying in shape. Ultimately, all the half marathon training will lead to a good performance during the race event. That feeling of crossing the finish line during the race will feel great and you will be grateful that you completed the training program.
I can’t state this as a fact, but I would be willing to bet that there are more people who sign up and complete half marathons than full marathons. A half is still considered a long-distance event by my standards and still presents a fitness challenge to most regardless of your goal.
2. To Try Something New for Once and Say You Have Done a Half Marathon in Your Life
If running a half marathon was super easy, everyone would sign up and do it. Obviously, this is not the case, since not everyone has run a 13.1 miler. Some people have a half marathon on their bucket list. This bucket list may have items you continuously add to it, but I have had conversations with many people who have “Run a half marathon” or “Run a marathon” on their list. After you have run a half marathon, no one can take it away from you. That half marathon medal for finishing the race is yours forever and you can hang it up in your home or put it on display wherever you want.
3. Stepping Stone
Some run a half to check their progress on a much bigger goal of completing a marathon. Training for a 26.2 miler is a big-time commitment and not an easy feat to accomplish. Participating and finishing a half marathon means progress towards a marathon event is on par.
4. To Travel
Some people like traveling to new cities and checking out the popular spots in the area. This is partially the reason I have set myself a life goal of completing 50 half marathons (one in each U.S. state). It gives me an excuse to hit up major cities and even popular trails or rural areas.
5. For Motivation
Believe it or not there are runners out there who continuously sign up for half marathons to stay motivated. They find new ways to tweak their training programs and uptake different challenges for each half marathon. They spend the time to research the elevations on the course, or decide to shed a few pounds, or even decide to beat their PR from their first half marathon. Whatever the means of motivation is, just know that it exists for some people to train and complete a half marathon.
Final Thoughts
If you are not convinced of ever running a half marathon, I hope this blog made you rethink about it. If you take anything from this at all, it is that there are many different reasons why people choose to run a half marathon. I may not have hit the reason why you ran your half, but if it is not on your list of things to do in life, I would recommend every individual run at least one half marathon in their lifetime. Very few people say that it wasn’t worth it after completing the feat.