Story by Patryk Odedina

 

I love running because it’s a sport that connects people. When 50,000 people get together to run the same marathon, it’s a very unique experience. Most people never get to play basketball with Lebron James or baseball with Aaron Judge. Marathons put Olympians on the same field with their less-athletic counterparts.

 

Running can have so many different purposes. Some people do it for their health, some do it as a hobby, some do it competitively, and some do it to be social, and all of those are okay. There’s no shame in taking it too seriously or not taking it seriously at all.

 

I love racing because it allows me to compete. I was a decent college athlete, and I missed the competition. There was no guarantee that I would win or that I would perform well. The rush or nervousness that I got from playing competitive basketball is something that I found in racing.

 

I consider myself a running nerd. I could talk all day about shoes and their foams, gels and electrolytes, training and recovery. There’s so more than meets the eye. It’s not just putting one foot in front of the other.

 

New York City is an amazing running city. We have climates, traffic and energy that surprises us everyday. The growth in run clubs has been fascinating and I’ve spent the last two years visiting and documenting them as part of a Reels series on Instagram called “Run Clubs of NY”. I’ve learned so much and met so many different kinds of runners from those encounters.

 

I just love it all.