If there were a pill that could replicate all the benefits of running—heath, looks, even enjoyment—would you keep running? In my experience, the longer a person has been running, the more likely they are to answer ‘yes’: to say they would continue running. That is, I think, because running does something to you that is quite different from, and independent of, its health benefits, its effect on your waistline, even the way it makes you feel and the enjoyment you get from running. In the end, if you have run long and hard enough, you discover a certain sort of value in running: a value that running has for its own sake.

Philosopher Mark Rowlands (Miami) is interviewed at Running Times, where he discusses some of the ideas from his book Running with the Pack.