The running boom is enjoying a strong revival. Ian O'Riordanreveals why we are all running away.
Ask a dozen people why they run and you're likely to get a dozen different answers. Stress-breaker, heart-saver, spirit-raiser and weight-shaker - the fact is, running covers up a multitude of excesses.
Yet that alone does not explain why increasing numbers of us lace up a pair of running shoes, perform a quick stretch of the calf muscles, and head out over road, grass, sand or gravel for as long as our legs will carry us.
Roger Bannister will always be remembered as the first man to crack the four-minute mile, and he also had a nice take on why we run: "We run not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. It also does us good because it helps us to do other things better.
"It gives us the chance to bring out the power that might otherwise remain locked inside. The urge to struggle lies latent in everyone."
That may sound a bit heavy but the fact is more and more people in Ireland would appreciate Bannister's philosophy.
The runner (or jogger, if he or she is running deliberately slow) is now a common sight, every morning, lunchtime and evening, in every neighbourhood. They're destroying the myth of it being lonely as many are in pairs and sometimes a crowd and in some cases they are clearly "training" as opposed to just "running".
"There is a very definite revival in what I would call the running boom," says Frank Greally, the long-serving editor of Irish Runner magazine, now in its 26th year of publication.
"We had that first big running boom in the early 1980s, but I think the second boom has definitely hit, and I think this time it will be sustained as well, because there is such an emphasis on health.
"In fact, a large part of it is a lot more people taking more responsibility for their own health. The mushrooming of gyms and other health centres was the first stage of that, but people are no longer satisfied with running on the treadmill. They want to go out and do a bit on the roads and trails as well, and measure themselves a little more also.
"That's why were seeing a big increase in the numbers running say five-mile and 10km road races, as well as the marathon."
Greally speaks from experience, as he also organises the Irish Runner five-mile challenge every July, the first of three countdown races to the Dublin marathon.
When it started six years ago it had around 1,200 runners but by last July that had doubled to almost 3,000, and that trend is reflected in similar road races around the country. Last December, there was the once-off Dublin Tunnel run, and that drew a sell-out participation level of 10,000.
It's still not that long since anyone out running on the roads was seen as something of an oddball - especially at this time of the year. If they weren't quietly sniggered at they'd probably be reminded of that line from Forest Gump ("Run, Forest, Run" - if I got a penny for every time I heard that) but these days they're more likely to be looked upon with envy, particularly by anyone sitting in traffic with their own belly to rest their arms on.
Athletics Ireland, which until now has been mostly concerned about getting athletes to the Olympic Games and other major championships, has recognised the changing face of running.
No one in these road races or other fun runs has any ambition of running the Olympics, but that doesn't mean they don't have something to offer to sport.
Brendan Hackett, chief executive of Athletics Ireland and himself an avid runner, certainly realises that: "I've always felt that running is way more than just a competitive sport," he says. "It's also an educational activity for children and a recreational activity for adults. And it's now the intention of Athletics Ireland to have a recreational running section in every athletics club in the Republic.
"This is something developed under our Fit4Life programme, which we launched last year, and is aimed solely at the recreational runner," says Hackett.
"What we want to do is train a leader, someone who will be able to lead a group of recreational runners in a club, such as those who come in intermittingly, want to run with other people, and just have that little bit of structure in what they do. And the whole emphasis is on health and fitness and sociability," he says.
"So we're putting on courses for all clubs, with the idea they'll set up their own section in their club or even set up their own new club. There'll be a range of benefits from insurance cover to race entries. But right now, there is no doubt the really competitive end of Irish athletics is in decline, while the general participation levels are increasing. So that's definitely a big part of our strategy for the future."
Hackett is both a former coach and gym owner, and he passionately believes that running is still the original and best form of exercise, which helps explain why so many people are always drawn to it.
"I was always amazed at how so many people came in to my gym to walk or run on a treadmill," he adds, "when clearly they'd be better off out in the fresh air in the company of other people.
"But to me, running is the foundation of all exercise. It's the one activity everyone can do. Essentially there is no skill required, you can go at whatever level, and I know some competitors out there in their 80s. So it can be a life-long thing."
Greally's Irish Runner magazine provides regular advice on running topics such as injury prevention, stretching, nutrition and footwear, but part of the beauty of running is that it's so simple. Running doesn't cause injuries, but the way you run can (you run with your legs, not on them).
For stretching, nutrition and footwear, common sense is still the best guide. Some gentle stretching - preferably after warming up - can only improve efficiency; a balanced diet with plenty of water is a given; and always wear a shoe that fits and feels like it was made for running.
"The other big thing about running is that we don't have any inhibitions anymore," adds Greally.
"Back in the 1980s I remember Christine Kennedy, former winner of the women's mini marathon, would go out running in Galway with an overcoat on. Lots of barriers have been broken down in that regard.
"The mini marathon has done a lot for women runners, and around 40 per cent of those in all road races are now women. Many of them came into it for the mini marathon, and now stay with it for the rest of the year, in that once they build their fitness they want to hold onto it," says Greally.
"There are also pockets of the country where the races are very well organised, like with the Ballycotton series in Cork. Also the way West Waterford has developed a whole network of events in that area, catering for a wide spectrum of fitness levels," he says.
"You also see people who are prepared to enter these races on the back of just fitness walking, with the idea of graduating to jogging after that. But the next layer is to get more of our kids out running, on a non-competitive basis. That's when we'll really see the full benefits of running."