I am linking up with Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run for the Friday Five Linkup. Every Friday they have a linkup for bloggers to Link up a post about 5 things or write on their theme.

This week’s theme is five reasons to run (a marathon, an ultra, a 5k, whatever). So I chose to write about five reasons to run a race, any race.

I didn’t always like to run, especially long distance. I was a sprinter and jumper in high school and would always try to get out of running anything long in practice. Then during college I started running to stay in shape. It continued on and off when I was working. I started running and working out even more especially after having kids to help lose the baby weight. Signing up for races has helped a bunch, especially as a motivator.

Here are five reasons to run a race:

1. Keeps you motivated. Whether you’re running to stay in shape, lose weight or get more fit, races help keep you accountable. Signing up for a race means, I have to run on that certain day. I pay good money to run lol and it’s usually for a good cause. So signing up gives me something to look forward to. I usually follow a training plan that helps lead up to race day. 

2. The Challenge. It’s a challenge to run and finish a race. Also, once I finish a race, I like signing up for another so I can beat the time I got especially if it’s a PR (personal record). Races challenge me to get better.

3. Get cool medals and shirts. Once you finish a race, you usually get some cool bling, like medals. Then you can start a collection. 🙂 They usually give out nice shirts too.

4. Get to travel and see sights. Races allow you get to see the sights on foot. Depending on what race, they close streets, freeways, and even amusement parks (Disney) for races. So it’s pretty cool to say that you ran where you would not normally get to. Also, there’s lots of cool destination races like Las Vegas,Washington DC, New York, and Disney ones that would be cool to travel to as well. The picture below is from the Rock’n’Roll Seattle Half Marathon. Loved the scenic route!

5. Fun social event. Races are awesome social events. Depending on your race, there could be hundreds or even thousands of people running and lots cheering you on. I read there was 25,000 runners at the Nike San Francisco race…wow! Who doesn’t love it when strangers cheer you on and give you high fives while running? Races are so fun!! 🙂

Those are five reasons to sign up for a race. Why do you run races? Are you going to sign up for a race next year? If so, what are you planning to run?