When I tell people I like to run, I’ve noticed one concern seems to come up more than others. It goes something like this: “I could never run that long. I’d get bored too easily.”

Honestly, I kind of understand where this is coming from. Running can be incredibly mundane. If you’re running alone, you might run for well over an hour without much stimulation compared to a gym or the internet. Heck, sometimes the only things you’ll hear during a run are the sound of your heavy breathing and your feet smashing against pavement.

But looking back on my journals, I’ve noticed some of my strangest and most unexpected moments over the last few weeks have come from a run. Here are some notable memories from runs I’ve had during this time in quarantine (links to Strava added).

Running along Royal Park at sunset. The sky’s painted an extraordinary mixture of orange and pink and the temperature is perfect for a relaxed jog. It’s a busy evening, with various runners, walkers and people on bicycles passing by – some by themselves, some in pairs – and the sky provides a romantic filter to the scene. As I jog past a young pair holding hands, the boy looks up as if noticing the sky for the first time and says to the girl, “Oi, check out the sky! Isn’t it beautiful?” The girl gasps and says hurriedly, “Quick, take a photo of me here, the lighting’s good!”

Running along the Tan Track one evening. It’s dark, raining heavily and despite my raincoat, I’m shivering. My legs are numb and my glasses are completely soaked, meaning I can’t see more than 3 metres in front of me. As I wipe my glasses to clear the rain, I notice another runner approaching from the other direction. As we get closer, I see it’s an elderly lady wearing nothing but singlets and shorts, completely soaked. As we pass, she waves at me and through the rain, she yells, “Great weather, innit?!” I give a surprised laugh, shaking my head in disbelief at the sight.

Doing a workout along Princes Park one afternoon (3x [7’ tempo, 3’ float recovery]). During the second rep, I run past two kids on bikes and a man running behind them, presumably their father. As I run past, one of the kids with blonde hair and a green teenage mutant ninja turtles helmet looks up and yells, “Whoa dad! That Asian guy ran past us!” The other kid yells in response, “Let’s catch him!”, prompting me to run even faster.

Running around my neighbourhood one chilly evening. As I run past Uni, I notice a man and a woman wearing similar outfits standing on the path in front of me. Both have brown, curly hair and wear long, dark coats to match their slender bodies. The man is speaking to the woman, who has her hands in her pockets and is looking down, back hunched. Despite me crossing the street to dodge them (#socialdistancing), I’m still able to make out some words from the man to the woman. “Dad’s gone. Please let me help you…”

Moments like these have brought episodes of genuine laughter, tears and a soaring of emotion that is difficult to describe. And so, the short answer to the concern of boredom when running is simple: running isn’t boring. It takes a little bit of awareness, but if one looks around during a run and looks for something interesting, I’d suspect they’d find little bits of magic hiding around every corner.