Jog On: How Running Saved My Life

by Bella Mackie

I begged to be committed, to be sectioned, anything to quit this life which I found too hard. I felt like I hadn’t been given the requisite armour for the game, and I didn’t want to play.

A 2015 study suggested that one reason the UK BAME population exercised less than the white population was because of a feeling that sport did not cater to their needs.[77] South Asian women, for example, reported a fear of racial discrimination at places offering classes or group exercise. Those of Islamic faith worried about the appropriate clothing needed, and whether the exercise on offer was for both men and women in the same group. Running is not exempt from this charge. Through his role, Alex Eagle (founder of The Running Charity) told me that he believes ‘running is not seen as accessible to many BAME groups – it’s [seen as] a traditional middle-class white sport.’ Asian and black women have the lowest participation in sport and exercise when compared to white women. And research in the USA shows that this starts early: physical activity drops hugely during adolescence, more so for girls than boys, and especially for ethnic minorities and girls from lower-income backgrounds.[78] A 2014 review of research into what prevented women (along with immigrants and underrepresented minorities in the USA and Europe) from underrepresented countries from exercising showed that responsibilities such as childcare and housework got in the way of participation. Cultural beliefs, social isolation, a dearth of culturally appropriate facilities and unsafe neighbourhood spaces were also noted as barriers to physical activity.[79] At least part of that must be down to representation – ...

As its research has shown, often we think that men have ‘hobbies’ which are positive, whereas women merely take ‘me time’, which is often dismissed as selfish or indulgent.

‘Deep afflictions of the spirit are best alleviated by violent agitation of the body.’

Sadness isn’t something to worry about – you’re feeling what you’re supposed to be feeling. But you don’t have to entertain it, invite it to stay longer and make up a bed for it.

Stephen King said (and as featured on every inspirational Pinterest board): ‘Hearts can break. Yes, hearts can break. Sometimes I think it would be better if we died when they did, but we don’t.’[103]

Many of us don’t have a wide choice of fields and woodland in easy reach – recent UK government figures estimated that about 82 per cent of us live in urban areas.[121]

As Amy Poehler says about not judging choices made by others in her book Yes Please: ‘Good for her, not for me.’

As Alain de Botton once wrote: ‘The largest part of what we call “personality” is determined by how we’ve opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness.’