The Best Runs You Took in 2022

It was my first run after having a baby. Just a rectangle around my neighborhood that I use to walk my dog when she just needs a short outing. I’m normally fairly active and have been running since I was 14. This pregnancy was rough, and even though I was dying to move my body, I simply could not. So about eight weeks postpartum, I laced up my shoes and took a victory lap for a mile around my neighborhood. It wasn’t fast, but damn it felt good.

— Michelle Garcia, 37, New Jersey

Solitude on the Bourbon Trail

I found running bliss alone on a backcountry road in Kentucky at 4 o’clock in the morning. I was doing my first Ragnar Bourbon Chase, a two-day, 200-mile team relay dotted with distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. On my second leg, a 9.5-mile stretch of choppy, hilly country road, everything just clicked. After shuttling around in a van for over a day and a night with good friends on the 12-runner team as we all took our turn, I was feeling good and rolling at a decent pace. There were other events of the year that I raced much better, but this was joyous, just for the pleasure of running.

— Cliff Hamal, 64, Arlington, Va.

Running in Grief and Love

In January, it had been three weeks since my mom unexpectedly died. I anticipated feeling wild grief but instead felt numb. My heart didn’t yet believe she was gone. I was running on trails in Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle soft with soggy leaves, edged with wet ferns, under towering conifers and ancient magnolias when I suddenly felt my mom’s presence. The pain felt unbearable, and tears overflowed. She taught me that on trails and in nature, I could sort out my feelings and find peace. As I continued running, I realized I will always have that gift. In the year since her death, running hundreds of miles in my beloved Seattle, through its urban forests and unexpectedly wild parks, under redwoods and by tranquil lakes, I’ve been able to grieve and love my mom.

— Sarah Davis, 48, Seattle

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/sports/running-best-2022.html