Health, charity, sanity — the reasons why moms run are as diverse as the women doing the workouts. 

Are you a runner? Have you ever thought about running? What are your reasons for loving to run?

I’m finding a big trend among mom friends these days that includes moms that run. Never having been a runner myself, I was intrigued by the successes my mom friends were having and decided to tackle the pastime myself. Now I find myself completely in love with it. If I can get involved in running, pretty much anyone can.

I know why I run and I know how it makes me feel but can people relate to that? I decided to conduct some interviews to see what other moms thought. I found out a lot more about why moms run – and what inspires them to keep getting out there and hitting the pavement.

I talked to four moms with different backgrounds. I’ll give you a brief intro to each of them as well.

Why Moms Run- Four Perspectives

Ceri H. is a military wife and mom of a 2-year-old daughter. She is 4 ½ months pregnant. She has been running since July of 2011 but took a break during the early parts of her pregnancy due to morning sickness and exhaustion. She is back to running several days a week now.

Kristen K. is a new mom of twin boys, ages 3 months old. She is married and works from home. She is new to running this time around. She’s tried it in the past but never had success because the right motivation wasn’t there. She also happens to be my long-distance running partner.

Amy F. is a married mom of two girls, ages 3 and 1. She is a stay-at-home mom and hopes to soon start going back to school. She just started running this year in January after her dad had a heart attack in his 40’s.

Christine S: Crossing the finish line of races is a feeling I will never forget and doesn’t ever get old!!

Christine S. is a married mom of two boys, ages 4 and 2. She is an early education teacher and is trying to meet her goal of running at least one race every month (5ks, 10ks, ½ marathons and a full marathon late this fall). She started running in June of 2011 and runs to support the American Cancer Society in honor of her Grandma who passed away in January 2011.

Amy F: I wanted to try something new. I’ve never run before in my life. I tried the Couch to 5k program but it was entirely too slow for me. I just started creating my own little goals to go further and faster every time I ran.