I love it when things overlap.
On my cross-country team, we have been talking about how running can be an escape (in some ways) from the struggles and stresses of real life. So imagine my excitement when I read an article on Runner’s World online (runnersworld.com), which also touched on the subject of how running can be an escape.
The article highlighted an interview with Ali Tremaine, a student from Memphis who recently started running. Through a series of questions, Tremaine spoke of her parents’ divorce and the unexpected loss of one of her dear friends. When dealing with the sorrow in her life, Tremaine decided to look towards running to get her mind off of her grief. The reason? “There was something comforting about only worrying about getting one foot in front of the other, one day at a time.”
In an age where social media and culture are shaping the ways that teenagers look at themselves and live their lives, more and more stories on the news are focused on bullying, self-harm, and sadly, suicide. Because of self-doubt and insecurities, teenagers and adolescents are turning to drugs, alcohol, involvement in gangs, etc. to get their minds off of their problems. I have a proposition. It’s not a common or accepted thought, in fact, it’s discouraged. I believe that in order to solve them, we should run away from our problems.
Yes, I do quite literally mean run away from our problems. The compelling thing about the article on Ali Tremaine in Runner’s World is that she acknowledged that she had problems in her life. She had made bad decisions, her parents were going through a rough divorce, and she had just lost one of her good friends.
Tremaine took all of her pain and she ran away from her problems.
I realize that it is impossible and actually ignorant for me to think that every person who has problems can and should go run to solve them. But, I believe that in order to solve issues that one has with themselves or with other people, they should find an outlet in which they can be free from these problems. Running is my outlet, it is Tremaine’s outlet, and it is the outlet for many others, but it is not the only outlet. Art, Music, Poetry, Literature, Basketball, Soccer, Dance. All of these and more can be used to not only express oneself, but to free oneself from the issues of society.
The purpose of Runner’s World’s article on Ali Tremaine was to show people that running can be an escape from life, and a way to express yourself. In addition to running, there are so many outlets that one can engrain themselves in. I believe this article can be used as a Call to Action for people who are struggling, or who know people that are struggling, to pursue an outlet to free themselves from the pressure and pain, and to discover the purpose of their lives.
Sydney Brynn 