WHY AM I RUNNING ? BECAUSE I NEED TO BUY MILK

Every run should have a purpose. It’s an assertion we running coaches are fond of making. We recommend that every time you set out, you are able to answer the question ‘Why am I doing this run today?’ (The question is framed in a way that factors in not just the session itself but also where you, the runner, are on your training journey, as well as the placement of the run within the training week.) It’s good advice for when you are working towards a goal, because it ensures you’re doing the right amount of the right kind of training. However, with no races on my calendar, I’ve been finding a different purpose to some of my runs.

I’ve run to the pet shop to stock up on dog food. I’ve run to the library to return books. I’ve run to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I’ve run to the nature reserve to nerd out with my binoculars in the bird hides. In spring, I ran to a shady pocket of woodland to collect wild garlic, which I turned into pesto.

I’d been inspired by a guy I’d see out running all over the place with a huge backpack. I assumed he was training for something major, like the Marathon des Sables or LEJOG (Land’s End to John O’Groats). But when I spoke to him, as he sat at a bench outside the local store, he told me he was on his twiceweekly food-shopping expedition. He runs a few miles to the shops with an empty backpack, fills it up and walks home. The next time I was about to nip into town in the car, I remembered – and pulled on my running backpack instead.

There’s something liberating and satisfying about runs with a ‘mission’. As well as the pleasure of having clocked up some miles, I’ve – quite literally – run a necessary errand, spent some time (and money) in my local community and made a choice that reduces my impact on the planet. I recommend the ‘one-way’ run (with a walking return leg, complete with coffee in your reusable cup) to tempt yourself into a run you’re struggling to start.

And while I’m an advocate of the run-commute, this feels different. Dr Simon Cook, a runner and human geographer at Birmingham City University, explains why: ‘Runcommuting involves a journey from A to B that must be completed to facilitate the carrying out of an activity at the destination point,’ he says. ‘With recreational running, there is no ‘point B’ – you end up back where you started. In that respect, running can sometimes seem a bit pointless – not necessarily as a whole, but feeling the value of a single run among a multitude of others can be difficult.’

It comes back to needing a sense of purpose. Having a concrete reason for running (I must get to the library before it shuts) rather than an abstract one (I need to maintain my fitness) feels more compelling on days when I’m lacking enthusiasm. ‘Running via somewhere, to do something, or tick something off the list, can imbue additional meaning into running and make it more purposeful,’ says Cook.

The RunSome campaign (@runsome.org), co-founded by RW, is a ‘call to arms and legs’; it aims to encourage people to run some errands, journeys and commutes. It also hopes to raise the profile of running as a form of active travel, earning it the same level of support, policy and funding as cycling and walking. And quite right, too – we’re all achieving the same end, aren’t we? Reducing our harm to the planet’s health while improving our own. That’s enough to add purpose to every run.