It’s (almost) all in the mind: the psychology of running

The curious thing though about the marathon is that so many different factors play a role in one’s performance: the length of one’s training build, the way one reduces one’s training in the weeks leading up to the race, appropriate race day fueling by taking on the right amount of carbohydrates during the event, the course and its degree of elevation, who one can run with, and the all-important weather conditions on race day. It seems that marathon runners carry with them a full encyclopedia of excuses as to why their performance might not have gone as planned. For so many runners, the goal of a race is wrapped up in achieving a Personal Best, for this is the way to measure one’s ‘self-improvement’ (as a runner). For many others, it is about ‘the experience’: perhaps travelling to a new city with friends, raising money for a charity and then running a distance they have never run before.

Understanding the shifting ways in which running plays a role in human society is a means to accepting that running, while seeming ‘natural’, is indeed subject to a range of psychological as well as social-cultural factors.

Noel Brick and Stuart Holliday’s recent book, The Psychology of Running, offers scientifically based research to add to the runner’s arsenal of tools of ‘how to master the marathon’ (or another distance event). Many of the mind-based practices outlined in the book may well be familiar to many runners and athletes. These include positive self-talk (“you can do it”), chunking (breaking a race into parts) and where to direct your attention during a race. The book concludes with two more generally directed chapters about the apparent health benefits of running. Many people run because it makes them feel ‘better’ and Chapter 5 discusses how this might be so, while the last chapter discusses running-based interventions which seek to improve physical and mental health indicators for both children and adults.

Runners are no doubt curious beasts and one book which works for one runner may well not work for another. Many runners refer to How Bad Do You Want It? by Matt Fitzgerald as being instrumental in motivating them to perform at a higher level. Fitzgerald’s book tells the stories of elite athletes who confronted and overcame various psychological hurdles to finally reach their goals. These narratives were often told within the usual sports logic of victory and defeat. Brick and Holliday’s book, however, has a different starting point: what strategies can be used for each and every runner to perform better – or in a way that brings them more satisfaction. And, of course, the book also discusses why running makes us feel in a certain way. The book is framed by a series of everyday questions which runners may ask themselves, each other, or of course, their coach.

Chapter One asks the fundamental question of ‘why do we run?’ If running (particularly marathoning) seems to be going towards another global boom and is encompassed with multiple layers of sporting infrastructure, this question can sometimes easily be forgotten. Brick and Holliday’s opening chapter discusses the varieties of running practices and ways in which it relates to human evolution. The authors state, ‘better runners held a competitive advantage that shaped the evolution of the human body over the generations that followed’ (p. 8). This evolutionary understanding of running is far removed from what happens in massive urban marathons. Brick and Holliday thus introduce ‘motivation’, and in the case of running the motivational factors relate very specifically to ‘basic psychological needs’ of autonomy (having agency); relatedness (a connection with others); and ‘competence’ (being able to do something well) (p. 15). Understanding the shifting ways in which running plays a role in human society is a means to accepting that running, while seeming ‘natural’, is indeed subject to a range of psychological as well as social-cultural factors.

“Why do we slow down or stop?” is the question for Chapter Two. The contribution of the authors is to show how slowing down is caused not only by physiological factors, but also for psychological reasons. These are related to ‘perceived effort’, ‘pain’ and ‘affective states’. This third factor relates to how running makes us feel which can impact the likelihood of continuing with running into the future. The authors also draw on the concept of ‘self-efficacy’ which is the belief in ‘what we are capable of doing’ (p. 33). In running, this is based on past performances, physiological states and, thirdly, verbal and social persuasion (pp. 33-34). This kind of persuasion might be articulated by a coach or family members; it might also come through the support of a crowd during a race. The support on race day from the crowd is for some one of the factors that enables a strong race day performance. In the style of a running handbook, Brick and Holliday end each chapter with practical tips (‘Run With It’) as a means to succinctly articulate the relevance of their findings to runners. In this chapter, the authors conclude with the story of an athlete, whom they had successfully worked with to achieve his goals in a grueling ultramarathon. While the athlete was already at an accomplished level, the authors were able to add another layer of skill to his running capability.

The book offers clear guidance on mental strategies to avoid hitting the wall and to keep on going when things are getting tough. Runners can use processes such as setting specific or open goals or chunking as a means to ‘run faster’. Although this positions running as a practice in a rather narrow scope (i.e., competitive running), the psychology of running faster is articulated clearly enough. Chunking is a process which allows runners to narrow the focus of their effort, and the self-talk statements, repeated as a mantra by the runner, such as ‘you can do this’ helps to prevent them from thinking about how tired their legs are. The positive self-talk is useful for the fact that the brain is often telling the body to slow down, even though it is capable of going on.

In chapter four, Brick and Holliday discuss the various attention strategies that runners can use either to run faster or to make their running more enjoyable. Performing a body scan, where runners ‘check in’ with their body every five kilometers or so during a marathon, for example, is one strategy to avoid hitting the wall later on in the race. On other occasions, runners can take the option of not wearing a watch as a means to focus their attention on the process of running and their surroundings. For some runners, having a specific running playlist to listen to while running enhances their enjoyment of the experience.

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The authors, Brick and Holliday, have produced a thoroughly research-based book that is easily readable for a general audience. At some points, however, the book does feel like a very extensive literature review. I, for one, was looking for more engagement with their subjects and stronger social contextualization of the diversity of running practices. But in general, their style is plain and simple and there is no hype about the findings and stories of athletes who epitomize their insights. Running, like other global and corporatized sports, is largely fueled by hype for elite events and gear. This book, however, gives the agency of performance back to the everyday individual athlete who can engage with their mind and the course in ways which change how they get through a race. Despite its engaging introduction, The Psychology of Running suffers to a minor degree from a lack of a purposeful conclusion. Much like running a marathon, the authors wrote an engaging introduction and six chapters, before finally, hitting the wall.

Copyright © Andy Fuller 2025