Local Man Loves Everything About Running Except for the Running Part
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A local man loves everything about running, Dumb Runner has learned, with one exception—the part where you have to run.
“It’s just such a great sport,” said Pat Walshe, 26, a bartender and social media influencer. “Shopping for gear and shoes, creating playlists, all those little pre-run rituals you create, dialing in your nutrition and hydration, strengthening your core… it’s all so gratifying. And of course I love the feeling I get after a run.”
He paused.
“The running itself, though, sucks.”
Walshe, who has been running for about three years, said that when he started out he assumed the actual running part of running would feel better over time. But that has not been the case.
“My God,” he said, “it’s so… [expletive]… boring.”
Every run, said Walshe, regardless of variables like distance or time of day, is a continual, desperate attempt to distract himself from tedium.
“And the physical discomfort is no picnic, either,” he said. “Ugh.”
On the other hand, said Walshe, he has met several new friends through running and traveled to some interesting places to run races, including two marathons. He’s an active member of several running groups on Facebook and a diehard Strava user. And he’s discovered a passion for running literature.
“What I Talk About When I Talk About Running? By Murakami?” he said. “Wow, such a good book. And Once a Runner is a classic.”
“I love running, really,” said Walshe. “I just wish it didn’t involve so much running.”
