Welcome to the Club…. there’s just one rule.

By Theresa Howard

For better or worse I’ve been a runner for more than 40 years. Under the influence of cover girls who dangled from supermarket checkout aisles, I thought I was fat at 13, standing 5’6” and weighing about 107 pounds. My very first pair of running shoes was a camel-colored suede set with thick gummy soles. They came from Sears and probably weighed about a pound each.

I’ve racked up ten marathons, endless road races and thousands of miles – through hangovers, heartache, love and pregnancies. I’ve traversed roads around America and throughout the world. For 12 years I reflected on the jarring void in the lower Manhattan skyline and still relive the eerie sight of an airplane flying behind what once stood.  I have watched the rest of the NewYork City skyline, my daily view from across the Hudson, morph from classic and majestic to one of upmanship with neon lights and puzzling geometric shapes. And I’ve seen my own hometown of Hoboken go from grit to glitz.

With such mileage, I still consider myself a “runner” even if my pace suggests otherwise. Which is why I can’t help but notice something interesting out on the roads over the past two weeks.

First, there are a lot more runners out there. And why shouldn’t there be? Running is the ultimate democratization of a sport. Runners come in all shapes, color and sizes. You don’t need any specialty gear save for a good pair of running shoes. Running provides therapy – emotional and physical at the same time. It helps organize your head, clear the cobwebs and allows you to enjoy nature. It’s competitive, whether it’s you against yourself, a stopwatch or the person six feet in front of you. It’s free. And generally, it’s healthy. Even during this climate getting out for a run is good for you provided you keep your space. And while everyone is doing a good job darting or moving or sometimes going idle for a moment in order to practice social distancing, what I mostly see is eyes averted or eyes ahead.

Which leads to my second point. Through all my years of running I’ve noticed an unwritten rule — to acknowledge each other in general, but especially during adverse times or adverse weather. Whether it’s national mourning, freezing temps, snow storms, torrents of rain, wind gusts, sweaty sweltering days or an early morning on a holiday when the rest of the world is tucked under cover, runners generally give a subtle shout-out to the other dedicated runner out there striding about.

The unwritten rule provides a real boost – an emotional turbo charge that helps propel your legs forward. I don’t know if it’s generational, that my own running schedule has been inconsistent or if it’s the onslaught of gym goers who now seek refuge with the open-air opportunity of running freely on the streets, but these are the not the runners I know.

So to the new cadre of “runners” I say, welcome to the club. But think about giving a quick head nod, chin up, hand wave or smile to your fellow runner. Social distancing does not have to mean emotional separation. We’re all in this together.