It starts with the mind and ends with the body.
What’s on a runner’s mind? The answer to that depends on when you ask the question. What people think about when everything is still easy and what they think about when the going gets tough differ immensely. At the beginning of a run, the mind is free to wander yet when the session is in full swing, everything is focused on running and one’s body: ‘It starts with the mind and ends with the body’.
But this section is not just about what the runners think about. It also delves into what bothers them, which nation gets most bothered about which things, what reasons they have not to run, and what keeps them going.
Because they enjoy running so much, the Belgian runners are capable of reaching a Zen-like state of mind, with 15% thinking of absolutely nothing at all (as opposed to 10% of passionate Spanish runners), and 22% admitting that nothing bothers them during a run. Despite their enjoyment of the sport, they are the nation who has considered quitting the most (46% say they have never considered stopping while 37% have thought about it more than once).