Why I run by Malcolm Gladwell, Denise Lewis, Sadiq Khan and more

We asked celebrity runners how they got into the sport, where and how they do it, and if they had any tips to pass along.

Malcolm Gladwell, 53, author

How long have you been running?
I began running in high school, ran competitively through the beginning of college, then quit serious running for 30 years. I have no idea why I quit for so long. It stands as one of the dumbest decisions of my life.

Why do you run?
This afternoon I ran 20 times 200 metres, up a steep hill, at 75% of my limit. I dreaded doing it. But halfway through I began to relax and enjoy it, and when I finished I had an enormous sense of accomplishment. That’s why I run. Because the best things in life always start out hard and end up wonderful.

Do you have advice or tips?
Run on soft surfaces. Land on your forefoot. Get rid of electronic aids. Remember nothing good happens until you’ve been running for 40 minutes.

Headphones or clear air?
Clear air! For an hour a day I have the opportunity to be completely alone with my thoughts. Why would I give that up?

Do you use technology while running?
For track workouts, I use a Garmin watch. Otherwise I run without aids.

Who’s your running hero?
My childhood hero was the great Brendan Foster. I love 70s, early 80s-era British distance running (Steve Jones, Foster, Coe, Ovett and Cram). I feel like they were a good deal tougher than everyone who has come afterwards.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
The Englischer Garten in Munich. I have no idea why. But it is reason enough to go to Munich.

Malcolm Gladwell is a British-born Canadian author and staff writer for The New Yorker, and a former high- school running champion. He lives in New York City.

Isabel Hardman, 31, political commentator

How long have you been running?
I didn’t really do any exercise until about 2012 when I couldn’t do the zip up on a nice dress I got from Whistles. I joined a gym and made a few miserable attempts to run but didn’t get into it until my spinning instructor suggested I join a club. Then I started doing parkruns. I did a half marathon in 2014 and now I’m training for the London Marathon.

Why do you run?
In 2016 I had mental health problems and running totally changed its purpose for me. Now what drives me is not whether I’m getting personal bests or fitting into dresses but that, if I don’t run regularly, I notice a massive dip in my mental health. At the start of this year, as well as still struggling, I had sinusitis for six weeks and then got food poisoning from some paté and was vomiting for a week. So I didn’t run until April. I felt that, and when I started running regularly again, I don’t think it was any coincidence that my mental health has improved dramatically again. I hope by the time I do the marathon I’ll be some sort of mental superwoman.

Do you have advice for new runners?
A lot of people talk about the way running improves their mental health, but one of the key symptoms of depression is a lack of motivation and belief in yourself. So it’s the starting that’s so hard. I had that coming back to fitness when I’ve been injured or haven’t been able to run for a while. When I was really ill I was able to get a personal trainer to make me go running. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. But you can get the same encouragement from running with friends or by doing parkruns. I’d also recommend stretching and blister tape.

Headphones or clear air?
I wear headphones and switch between listening to anything poppy with a loud beat and Any Questions? on Radio 4 because sometimes people say such annoying things that the frustration I feel makes me want to run faster. Andy Burnham really helped me out on a hill run recently.

Who’s your running hero?
Jo Pavey, because I think she’s just amazing for being European champion in the 10,000 metres, aged 40, 10 months after having her second child. That motivated me, because I’ve got no excuse.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
Walney in Cumbria where I live part of the time. It’s this most beautiful island in the Irish Sea. Otherwise anywhere where I’m surrounded by nature.

Jenni Falconer, 41, TV presenter

How long have you been running?
Since I was 20 and was a presenter in Scotland while at university. The good life had started to take over and I was piling on the pounds so I started just to get fit and lose weight. I couldn’t run for half an hour without stopping, and the back of my throat would burn in the cold. I never thought I’d do a marathon but now I’ve done six or seven. My best time is 3 hours 31 minutes.

Why do you run?
I present an early morning radio show on Heart and get stressed and tired with the hours, but running is time to myself, to have a think and relax. When I’m stressed my mum or husband tells me: go for a run. It’s like meditation.

Do you have advice or tips for new runners?
Getting up off the sofa and out the front door is the biggest challenge you’ll face. The greatest feeling is coming home again, so as long as you find that motivation, you’re on your way. Also, get the right trainers. All the injuries I’ve had have been caused by unsuitable footwear. And try counting. I count every right step in my head. I know a 5k is about 3,200 right paces. It sounds crazy but it keeps me focused.

Who’s your running hero?
Women who’ve babies and keep running, like Paula Radcliffe and Jo Pavey. Obviously I can’t relate to their talent, but I admire mothers who get faster with age. With me it’s proving to be the opposite. But my daughter is now six and is very excited about being able to run with me.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
Along a promenade by the sea. It could be anywhere, but I just love the way it creates a perfect track with sea views and air. And you can’t get lost.

Jenni Falconer, 41, is a Scottish television and radio presenter. She lives in south-west London with her husband and young daughter.

Alastair Campbell, 60, writer, broadcaster and former political strategist

How long have you been running?
I didn’t really start until 2002, so I was well into my 40s. My sons were nagging me on holiday to do more than lie around the place reading and occasionally jumping into a pool for a few minutes, so I went for a run with them one day and loved it almost immediately. I decided within a few days to try to do a marathon, and entered the London marathon in 2003. Getting in under four hours was one of the greatest feelings ever, after all the training. I also did the Great North Run loads of times, and the Great Ethiopian Run, which was the best. I’ve never known an atmosphere like it.

Why do you run?
I don’t run as much as I did, and that is because after doing the marathon for the Bloodwise charity, they asked me to switch to triathlon and my running addiction switched to the bike. So now I cycle most days and run maybe a couple of times a week, whereas it used to be a couple of times a day. I mainly run to keep fit and keep my weight at a reasonable level. I also like running if I am staying in a town or city I don’t know very well. The other day I had a great run along Bowen Road in Hong Kong. I just stumbled across it. Fantastic. I am 60 now, though, and I hate the fact I can’t pick up the pace like I used to. And I don’t get that wonderful feeling as often as I used to, the one where you are running and you suddenly realise you’ve just done a couple of miles without even thinking about it. I’ve also had some of my best ideas when running. I take a phone with me and have learned to text myself while running. Saves stopping to take a note.

Do you have advice or tips for new runners?
My main advice would be to heed the advice I ignored, of all those people who told me to stretch before and after every run. I just didn’t, and I know that is one of the reasons I now feel so stiff when I run. My other advice would be, when starting out, to think in stages. Run to the next tree rather than think about the next mile. Think about the next mile rather than 26.2.

Headphones or clear air?
Headphones, but I have to use a bit of sticky tape to keep them in. I have yet to find a pair of headphones that stay in when I run. The Bee Gees live in Massachusetts is a great running album. Ditto Akon. But I also listen to bagpipes. Jacques Brel, France Gall, and Frankie Valli. Oh, and Abba.

Do you use technology while running?
I do have a watch that tells me how fast I am going, heart rate and stuff. But I rarely use it now. It is so depressing to see how slowly I am going compared with a few years ago.

Who’s your running hero?
I’ve got loads but if I can pick three, I am blessed to have been able to have run with – name drop time – Seb Coe, Brendan Foster and Haile Gebrselassie. Seb Coe was the most beautiful runner ever, in my view. Brendan was not just a top athlete and broadcaster, but what he created with the Great North Run is truly phenomenal. They are both good mates of mine now, and it was Brendan who got me to do the Great Ethiopian Run. We ran it together, but I nicked ahead of him on the line. True fact. Not fake news.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
The canal in Burnley, Saturday morning, before a match in the afternoon. Or Regent’s Park canal on Sunday morning … there is a canal theme here. Flat! Whereas on the bike, I still like hills.

Alastair Campbell is a writer, broadcaster and former political strategist. He lives in London with his wife and has three grown-up children.

Charlie Dark, 46, DJ and poet

How long have you been running?
I ran at school but gave up when I got into the music industry, which is not the healthiest. Lots of long flights, late nights and bad food after sets. Then about 10 years ago, I’d got into a dark place. I’ve suffered from bouts of depression in my life and running became a very good antidote. I’d got to the point where I wanted a bit more control over my emotional well being than taking a pill and waiting to be happy. But I was also embarrassed about my performance so I’d run at night. I’d be alone in the city and soon my friends noticed this change in me – physical and mental. I’d emerged from this dark place, and one of my friends asked if he could run with me. That’s how the idea of a crew came about. I wanted to share this new thing I’d found with as many people as possible because I was so enthralled by what it had brought into my life. I heard about a crew in New York and started Run Dem Crew in 2007. Now we’re part of a global organisation with a network of more than 200 crews.

Why do you run?
Now I run because of what it does for communities. I was teaching poetry to young people at a time when the postcode wars were at their height, meeting kids who couldn’t travel across the city. I thought, if you see 10 kids in hoodies you might cross the road. If you see them in running kit you might applaud them as they came past. I also want to improve diversity in running. There’s a perception in some communities that we’re not supposed to run, and this idea that a runner is a white man in shorts and a vest. Magazines don’t feature diversity unless you’re Kenyan or Ethiopian. If you don’t see yourself doing something, you’re not likely to do it. We work with a lot of young people to show they can be runners, too.

Do you have advice for new runners?
We’re supposed to run to ones we love, away from danger, for survival. So feeling that you can’t run can play havoc with your mind. It’s the simplest pastime but people feel they should automatically be able to do it, and get frustrated when they can’t. But you can. Just start slowly. The first time you go out, just go for five minutes, even if it’s to buy some sweets and you walk back.

Do you use technology while running?
I used to, but one of the things we’re doing with the crew at the moment is saying, take off your watch. Don’t be governed by the social pressure that comes with sharing your stats. There’s this culture that if you don’t share your activity then it didn’t exist and we’re taking things back to basics, to get a healthier balance between tech and social media.

Who’s your running hero?
Ted Corbitt, the black American marathon and ultramarathon runner who was a real pioneer in the sport. He used to run 100-mile races for fun. Now, as much as I spend my time around athletes, I’m inspired by people I watch undertaking their running journey and going from sofa to the finishing line of a marathon feeling so empowered they think they can do anything.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
I love running over the Brooklyn Bridge at night and in London it would be along the South Bank from Tower Bridge to Waterloo Bridge. It’s just so scenic. Too many people don’t go to a place that can inspire them to run. I always say take a travel card and look beyond your local park.

Charlie Dark, is a DJ, poet and writer, and founder of Run Dem Crew (rundemcrew.com), an urban community running movement. He lives in east London

Paul Sinton-Hewitt, 57, Founder of Parkrun

How long have you been running?
I ran track and cross country at high school and joined a club in my twenties before I got into business and settled in London in 1992. There was a gap, but I started again in 2000 and got into marathons. I was training to break the 2 hour, 30 minute mark when I tripped and hurt myself quite badly. It coincided with a bad work experience and a bad personal experience. Life was looking pretty dark and running became my way out of a downward spiral. I couldn’t run well, but could get my friends into the park and see them once a week. So I started an event, a free 5k in Bushy Park, near where I live, which would end with a coffee. It started in 2004 and got bigger and bigger. I resisted growth for years until a friend persuaded me to start a second run in Wimbledon in 2007. Now more than a quarter of a million people take part in more than 1,100 runs in 14 countries every Saturday. It’s been beyond any of my expectations and I’m incredibly grateful to be part of something so meaningful.

Why do you run?
Running has always been a tool to balance my emotions, gather my thoughts and to work out problems. I tried meditation and mindfulness but stopped because I get all that from running.

Do you have advice or tips for new runners?
Run so you can enjoy it. It’s a hard sport and can easily become a chore. It can seem as though only if you’re naturally good at it can you balance the effort and pain of achieving something with the delight of having achieved it. But most people are not natural runners, so to enjoy the process of running it might mean slowing down a bit, or being at one with nature. Or sharing your run with other people.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
It has to be Bushy Park, where it all began. It’s right on my doorstep and I still run there at least three times a week. And unless I’m doing the parkrun on a Saturday morning, I never take the same route.

Paul Sinton-Hewitt, 57, is a South African-born Londoner and the founder of Parkrun, the global collection of free, weekly 5km runs. He lives in Twickenham with his wife and two children.

Sophie Raworth, 49, BBC newsreader

How long have you been running?
I was quite a good track runner at school and also trained with the British squad as a springboard diver, but then completely quit any sort of sport until I was in my 30s after having my second baby. I was asked to do the Great North Run and thought, why not. It was a good way to lose a bit of weight so I trained and ran it in 2006 and haven’t really stopped. I did half marathons and thought I’d never be able to do a full one but finally did the London in 2011. I’ve now done 10 marathons, six of them London, and even an ultramarathon, a 50-mile event in the North Downs. It nearly killed me.

Why do you run?
It’s become, I suppose, an addiction in one sense, a way of life. And I find it incredibly empowering that I’m fitter and faster than I’ve ever been. That makes me feel really happy. The older I get the faster I get, which you can’t say in many other sports. I’ve also made some incredibly good friends through running and have encouraged other friends to join me.

What’s your advice for new runners?
In 10 years I’ve gone from nothing to running 50 miles but when I started I couldn’t run two miles without gasping for breath. You have to take it slowly, training in little steps. But it’s amazing the progress you can make. There’s a great app called Couch to 5k I’ve put a lot of people on to. It gets you running a five-kilometre run in a few weeks.

Headphones or clear air?
I used to listen to music but now find any noise in my head distracts me. It’s the one time in my life I don’t have to listen to people talk in my ear or say anything, and that peace is really therapeutic.

Do you use technology for running?
I’ve got a Garmin watch which I love and I use the running app Strava to share my runs. I’m really competitive but really only with myself.

Who’s your running hero?
My heroes are the people I know through running, like the wonderful woman who is 65 and didn’t start running until she was 57 after a health scare. She has now run more than 100 marathons and is just so gutsy and determined.

Sophie Raworth is a BBC newsreader. She lives in London with her husband and three children.

Denise Lewis, 44, BBC presenter

How long have you been running?
Children never walk, they run, don’t they? I used to race up all the time and started cross-country from about the age of six. As an athlete, running was always the core foundation of heptathlon, whether it was the running events or as a technical element in everything else.

Why do you run?
Now I run at least twice a week whether that’s on the treadmill or outside. But it’s pure escapism now. When I was running as an athlete, I’d be looking at my heart rate, monitoring when it started to peak, when it plateaued. I’d make a note of the oxygen debt in my body and would always be working to a specific time. Now it’s a chance to get out the house and refresh my mind. I find I get great clarity or time to think about how I’m going to do things. Or it’s a chance to think about nothing. Retiring can be hard but it’s nice to be in a position where I can run and feel liberated doing it. But I do always end with a little sprint finish.

Do you have advice for new runners?
Running is so natural, yet brings a lot of fear to people who think they have to go quickly. The first couple of minutes can be really uncomfortable but go slow at first and don’t be ashamed of walking and running and build up slowly with realistic targets along the way.

Headphones or clear air?
When I was an athlete I never listened to music because I was constantly so engaged with my own self and body. Now I’m pootling along, happy in my little world, I listen to R&B, soul or a bit of pop.

Who’s your running hero?
Paula Radcliffe who embodies running for me, and still runs everywhere. I work with her on the BBC and anytime we go to a destination you’ll see her coming back, sweaty in her shorts, hair scraped back after finding some canal or street in Moscow to run in. Running is her life and I admire that.

Where’s your favourite place to run?
Black Park, a big country park near me in Buckinghamshire. I often take my dog, a three-legged labrador-lurcher cross I rescued two years ago, much to the dismay of my mum and husband, who thought I’d hit my head. He’s my first dog ever and he’s just a dream. He does get a bit out of breath, my little man, so I sometimes have to slow down and wait for him.

Denise Lewis is a former Olympic heptathlon champion and a BBC athletics pundit. She lives in Buckinghamshire with her family

Sadiq Khan, 46, London mayor

How long have you been running?
I started running when I was asked to run the London Marathon for charity in 2014. Despite attempts to come up with an excuse to get me off the hook, when I heard about the thousands of people that the charity [the Dispossessed Fund] helps across London I couldn’t say no. I’ve been running ever since. I was well and truly bitten by the bug.

Why do you run?
Before I began running I never really understood the benefits it offers. There is a calmness and focus running brings, and it’s not just beneficial for physical health, but mental health too. Stick with it and it can change your life.

Who’s your running hero?
It has to be Mo Farah. His strength, passion and energy are an inspiration to all. Mo also ran the London Marathon in 2014 and if you want to feel like being an Olympian yourself there is nothing like it. It is one of the greatest sporting days in our city’s calendar.

Do you have advice for new runners?
The first time I headed out for a run I was able to complete several laps of my local common in Tooting. I headed home feeling pretty smug, but it didn’t last long – the pain I was in the next day was awful. I learned my lesson the hard way – never, ever neglect warming down and stretching after a long run.

Headphones or clear air?
I love having music to run to. I often get caught attempting to sing along. I have a running playlist – the tracks stretch from Stormzy to Sting.

Sadiq Khan is a Labour politician and current London mayor. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

Michel Roux Jr, 57, chef

How long have you been running?
I was one of the few kids at school who enjoyed cross-country. I have always enjoyed the freedom and challenge running gives you. I got the marathon bug when I gave up smoking 27 years ago and have since run 21 marathons and several other long-distance races.

Why do you run?
Being a chef, it is just as important to stay physically fit as it is mentally. Running a busy kitchen can be very stressful so I always make sure to find the time for a run. It’s a great time to clear your head and stop yourself from getting burnt out. My afternoon runs focus me, leave me ready to take on service in the evening and keep my head level when running the kitchen.

Headphones or clear air?
I don’t tend to listen to music when I am out running. On the rare occasion that I do, I definitely gravitate towards Deep Purple and to Pink Floyd – I’m a massive fan.

Who’s your running hero?
Certainly Paula Radcliffe, closely followed by Haile Gebrselassie. I met him once and he was really lovely – a true gent always runs with a smile!

Where’s your favourite place to run?
There’s a coastal path starting in Monaco and ending in Menton, France. It’s called Smuggler’s Way and has some amazing views that take my breath away every time I’m there. It’s quite a challenge to run along though, lots of twists and turns, narrow steps and lots of trees to duck under, but I like that.

Michel Roux Jr is a two Michelin-starred chef, restaurateur and TV presenter. He lives in south London with his wife Giselle

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