Amy Newmark's Blog - Posts Tagged "ultramarathoner"

Today is Global Running Day, "a worldwide celebration of running that encourages everyone to get moving," according to GlobalRunningDay.com. At Chicken Soup for the Soul we are celebrating with our new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Running for Good.

We collaborated with Ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes to provide 101 real-life stories that will be sure to motivate you to get out there!

Here are tips from two of my favorite stories in the book that will help inspire you to lace up your sneakers and go out for a run:

You can make new friends no matter where you are
When Helen Boulos and her family moved from Tennessee to Delaware, she knew she would miss the warm weather and the trails she had run on. But then she found that she was missing something else, too—friends. One day another mother from school told her about a mothers’ running group. Helen joined the group and was welcomed into their circle. Then, when she was in New York and her mother died, in Maryland, her new friends rallied around her and helped plan the entire funeral, something she couldn’t do remotely and while dealing with her grief. Helen concludes her story by saying, “I miss the beautiful views in Tennessee, but I have learned that it isn’t the distance, the view or the pace that makes running great; it is the people running by your side.”

You can use running to get closer to your kids
Andrew Todd Smith and his wife were sick and tired of the amount of time their teenage son spent playing video games. Their younger son was staring at a screen all the time, too. So they instituted a new rule for both boys: Screen time would have to be earned—via running. Each mile run would earn the boys a half hour of screen time. There was some resistance at first, but the boys came around and now they are both accomplished distance runners. And the family has a new shared activity, not only for the boys, but for their sister and parents, too.


Amy Newmark