By Maddie McComb

Mariska van Sprundel. Photo credit: Mariska van Sprundel.

Running and science journalist Mariska van Sprundel says, “There is more to running than just training your muscles and improving your stamina. It is also a mental sport, and maybe even more so than previously believed.”

Some people might think running is simple, but the solitary aspect of the sport requires a mental commitment to fight against the difficulties of running. In running, physical training is essential, but a runner also has to learn how to fight and be comfortable with their thoughts and emotions while running. Amani Kimball-McKavish (‘22) wrote in The Match in 2022 about the importance of improving the mental game in all sports, demonstrating the essential aspect of mentality in all sports. This spring, I interviewed a few runners around the Collegiate community on their take on mentality in running. 

Collegiate parent Courtney Ferrell, a former UVA cross country and track runner, helps coach the distance runners at Collegiate. 

“Most people out there have done the hard training, so everybody is ready to do the same thing, so what’s different from my winning to your winning is the mindset,” said Ferrell. 

Ferrell explained how, “Your brain needs to be able to deliver that message that even though it is experiencing pain, it needs to move towards that pain.” 

To solve this problem, Ferrell uses many positive affirmations to create a louder positive voice than the negative. For example, Ferrell explained how she says to herself, and others, “I feel good. I feel strong. I feel powerful.” Therefore, Ferrell explained how the “little mantras that you say to yourself can occupy the space in your brain, which otherwise can be filled with getting in your head and overthinking.” 

Ferrell also commented that “plenty of things in life… are hard, but running is not one of them,” and that the goal when running should be trying to “access whatever joy exists and stay in that space.” Ferrell believes in finding and staying in bliss while running, instead of focusing on all the challenges. 

Matthew Richardson (‘07) ran at Elon University and coaches cross country and distance track at Collegiate. When asked about how to approach running, Richardson emphasized the importance of finding joy and a team atmosphere in running, which can create success. 

Richardson commented on how running is a “lifetime sport that you can do anywhere with no fancy equipment,” and running can be “just [lacing] up some shoes and [going] for a run.” By finding joy in the ability to be able to run anywhere, running can be viewed from a new perspective. Instead of dreading practice, Richardson sees how special being able to run anywhere is. Richardson believes in “approaching training and competition with an attitude, as this is something I want to do and something I enjoy, and this is only amplified when you can do it with great people.”

Another essential factor to success in mentality and running is the team, as opposed to an individual. Richardson commented on how when “running enough miles with someone, a team is something that happens.” Richardson said, “When you’re running, you have to think outside of yourself to succeed… The more you focus on the team and making it fun, the harder competitors you become.” In running, instead of becoming too self-observed with one’s thoughts, when focusing on the team, one can find more strength and ambition to compete,  allowing the individual and the team to find more success. When running for your team, one can escape the self-destruction that a negative mentality might bring. 

I asked a few distance runners about their own mental experiences when running. 

Virginia Harris (‘27) commented on how she has many superstitions to be able to run well. For example, Harris “wears all the same clothes when racing.” Harris has certain running socks and ribbons that she has to race in to believe that she can have an exceptional race.

Harris explained how she remembers to “control the controllable” and that “everyone, including coaches and teammates, is going to be proud, no matter what.” Despite having superstitions that have been created mentally, Harris remembers to control her thoughts and know that her team will always have her back. 

Grover Jones Field. Photo courtesy of Collegiate School.

Giles Ferrell (‘24), daughter to Courtney, also knows the importance of remembering that your team is always by your side. Ferrell commented how, “Even if you are running individually in a race, remembering you are not running alone can change everything.” As Ferrell usually is running alone on a trail in a meet, without all of her teammates, she focuses on the fact that she is “never doing something alone,” since her teammates are always supporting and running with her.

Nora Wallace (‘25) believes that finding joy in challenges can be the key to success in running. Wallace says “Running with passion drives your mentality, which enables you to achieve your goals in such a mentally challenging sport.” 

The journalist van Sprundel, in an article for the MIT Press Reader on running and the science of mental toughness, examined different aspects that affect the mental state of running. 

In the article, Professor Vana Hutter, “an expert on the mental health of top-class athletes” and a professor of Behavioural and Movement Science in The Netherlands, commented about how mental can change or break a runner: “What really matters during competition is the extent to which their physiological systems are primed and ready to go, and how well those systems cooperate with each other.” She said, “Whether an athlete can avail of their maximum physical potential at the crucial moment is partly a mental matter.” Hutter supports the fact that running is more than training, because of how mentalility can change the runner. 

Hutter also explained how anxiety can cause various mental struggles: “If your muscles are a little bit more tense… You will need more energy to achieve the same kind of forward motion. This is the biomechanical explanation of the role of psychology in performance. On the other side of the spectrum, nervous anxiety can result in negative thoughts and fear of failure.” Hutter explained how when your brain becomes nervous, the rest of the body can become nervous and sometimes react negatively, making you mentally need to be stronger to push beyond the emotions released in your brain. 

The article also explained how important self-regulation is to fight against the mental battle of running. Self-regulation learning is taking over your training and showing up for yourself by giving it your all, or even just coming to every practice. Instead of missing practice on a cold, rainy day, showing up to practice creates success and consistency. 

The other aspect of self-regulation is “how to control your emotions, thoughts, and actions and keep them in line with your goals.” For example, when in pain during a run, one has to find positive mantras and push themselves to finish their goal even if they don’t want to. 

When running, anyone can stop at any moment in time from exhaustion, boredom, or simply to give up. 

Van Sprundel also examined comments from sport scientist and psychologist on mental fatigue Samuele Marcora, who said that stopping by exhaustion “has nothing to do with their physical ability to carry on or not. It is simply a matter of deciding to give up.”

Marcora experimented to test if the human body is simply too tired, which leads to stopping. This experiment included ten athletes who were asked to bike for five seconds and then bike for however long they could with resistance against them. After this test, they were asked to repeat the fast biking for five seconds. 

The results of this experiment were that when asked to bike for however long they could, they gave up at some point. However, they had three times more power at the fast interval than at the initial interval. Marcora and his colleagues decided this lab concluded that “tired muscles and a lack of energy are not the problem.” Instead, the problem was the motivation to continue on the long interval. Thus, when running, usually one still has physical power left but does not feel that way when continuing. 

Image credit: The Dial Press.

Alexia Pappas, a Greek professional runner, set a national record in the 10,000 meters in the 2016 Rio Games. She is producing a collection of essays titled  Bravery: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas. Pappas struggles with clinical depression, and her book examines confidence, self-reliance, embracing pain, and accomplishing dreams. Emilia Benton, in an article from Self, interviewed Pappas. Pappas wishes that “Today, for kids, parents, Olympians, everybody, it’s not abnormal to take care of your body. It should be a part of the system from a young age, with mental health support being available to people.”

Zoë Rom, a writer for Women’s Running, interviewed Molly Seidel, a women’s Olympic long-distance runner. Seidel said, “I’ve found that being able to give a voice to that pain, acknowledge it, and make peace with it. When I’m running a marathon, I’m not blocking out the pain. You’re definitely feeling it, you’re accepting it and you say, I feel this and I’m going to keep going anyway.” Not only does Seidel apply this advice to the mentality of running, but to mental health in everyday life. 

A writer who posts under the pseudonym “The Ebullient” on Medium wrote about Eliud Kipchoge, the Kenyan long-distance runner who broke the two-hour mark in the marathon. According to The Ebullient, before a race, Kipchoge “spends time visualizing the course, visualizing himself crossing the finish line victoriously. This helps him build confidence and mentally prepares him for the race ahead.” Kipchoge stays faithful to his goals and committed to his training. 

Eliud Kipchoge during his record-breaking marathon run in Vienna, Austria in 2019. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons user Triathlet 79.

Mentally, running can be difficult to overcome. From making yourself wake up to run, or just running after a day of school, one is constantly fighting their mind to find motivation to go out and run. As a two-season runner on cross country and winter track, I have learned the ups and downs of running. I have felt the impact of the mental battle, in which I have both failed and succeeded. 

I have failed against my mind before. When running alone, sometimes the last thing I want to do is run. Sometimes I find myself going for a run and giving up early as I lose motivation to continue. Sometimes, I find an excuse for why I can’t go for a run by telling myself that I do not want to go for a run. Other times, my mind grows tired causing my legs to automatically slow down. As I begin to believe my negative mindset, I slow down, losing the momentum I had earlier in the race. 

I have had to learn to fight against my mind in challenges. For example, in brutally draining, long workouts, my mind constantly tells me I can not finish. However, I push myself to continue running to accomplish my training and prove my negative voice wrong.

I believe the hardest mental game to fight is during a meet. Before a race, stress, and nerves can affect my positivity. My mind makes me question if I can accomplish my goal. In a race, as the end begins to feel far away, I have to fight my mind to continue going and to increase my speed.

Some ways that I have escaped believing my mental game has been repeating affirmations and reminding myself to continue for the team. I remind myself that everyone is with me together, even if it doesn’t always feel like that. 

The mentality in running can be very difficult to control and fight against, yet as Peloton instructor and influencer Tunde Oyeneyin says, “Your mind is your strongest muscle.”