Run, Karla, Run!

Brooks Run Happy Nation Report

We already knew that runners like wine. My roundup of 10 Wine-Themed Runs To Get Your Drink On at Shape.com has more than 11,000 Facebook likes. But a new report from Brooks Running found that runners are like wine. That’s right, 44% of runners say they get better with age, just like a good bottle of vino. While 24% of runners tied to say they’re more like beer, with a little hop in their step, or more like a cocktail, shaking up their routine.

That was just one of the fun tidbits unearthed in the third annual Brooks Run Happy Nation report, a survey of 1,000 runners in the U.S., Canada, and Germany, commissioned by Brooks Running. Here are some of the results.

Training Partners

• 32% of Americans say they choose a friend as their go-to training partner
• 24% pick a digital fitness tracker
• 20% would rather hoof it with their dog

Business Time (Flight of the Conchords fans, you know what I’m talkin’ about)

• 48% percent of Americans under 40 like to get it on pre-run
• 41% of Americans reveal they feel “frisky” after hitting the pavement
• 35% say a pre-race horizontal rhumba improves running performance

Runder Wear

• 62% of American women prefer briefs, compared to 72% of German women
• 8% of American women go full commando, versus 11% of Canadians
• 47% of runners prefer racerback sports bras
• 39% like crossback sports bras
• 14% prefer front closure sports bras 

Movie Time

• 32% of respondents say Forrest Gump inspires them the most among running movies
• 26% connect with Rocky‘s eye of the tiger
• 18% love Silver Linings Playbook’s wackier take on running

Running Locales

• 47% of respondents say trails are their favorite place to run
• 27% of respondents pick running around the Grand Canyon as their dream runcation destination
• 24% choose the Romantic Road of Germany
• 23% dream about running the Great Wall of China

Read the rest of this entry →

Runners feast at the 2010 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. Photo courtesy of runDisney.

Ask Miles of Runner’s World recently posed an age old question: Is it better to run a lot but eat poorly, or eat healthy and not exercise at all? Dr. Bill Roberts, RW’s “Ask the Sports Doc” blogger, answered: “I would think that heavy exercise will compensate better for a poor diet than a perfect diet will compensate for no exercise.” Phew!

I run because I love to eat. Sure there are other nobler reasons why I run—because I can, because it keeps me fit, blah blah blah—but I’m not going to lie: eating is probably top three. And eating healthy while training for a race is important. But what if the race has “Wine & Dine” in the title? While training for the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon on Oct. 1, I’m finding that eating healthy is easier said than done. Read the rest of this entry →