One of the best ways to gain answers to the question of running improves mental health and can help people to overcome stress and anxiety is to talk to people who are runners to learn more about their experiences with running to deal with stress and anxiety. To do this I sat down and had a conversation with Kara Gumke who is both a Library Media Specialist and the assistant coach of the cross country team at Rockville High School. I conducted an interview with her and asked her a variety of questions about how she got into running, how running benefits her mental health, and advice she would give to people trying to get into running.
Isabel Cintron: “When did you start running? How did you get into running?”
Kara Gumke: “I started running as a high school student because I was a soccer player and loved sports so I did track in the spring. I actually ended up quitting basketball so that I could do indoor track in the winter. I kind of stopped running in college because I had gotten busy, but I got back into it as a young adult.”
IC: “Why do you run and what does it do for you? How does it benefit you?”
KG: “Running is different for me now than it was in my twenties. When I was in my twenties it helped keep me healthy and push myself. It was an individual thing, and races gave me a sense of accomplishment as my times got better and improved. It felt good mentally. Now, I don’t care about times as much. I struggle with anxiety a bit, so it helps me have time for myself and is a mental break for me. I am talking to people all day at work and so I need time for myself, and running gives me that. It also makes me feel better physically. It has really changed over time.”
IC: “As a coach, what advice would you give to beginning runners on where to start?”
KG: “Start with a little bit each day even if it’s walking a mile and running for five minutes or even as little as two minutes. As you progress it will get better and better. You have to do whatever works for you. If you want to run marathons, run marathons, or just run a mile every single day. Running should be helping and benefitting your mental health and not stressing you out. Find what’s right for you but start small and work your way up.”
IC: “Do you have anything else that you would like to say?”
KG: “My goal as a coach is not so much that you meet a certain time. I like to encourage people to build up running to be a lifelong thing to keep them healthy. I think that this is why it makes me a good assistant coach because I can balance that out.”
Coach Gumke is a prime example of someone who runs not just for its physical benefits, but also for the mental health aspect of it. It gives her time for herself and helps her to overcome her own anxiety. Having had her as one of my cross country coaches for the past three years, she is definitely someone who practices what she preaches. Our race times and places are not her main priority or focus. She wants running to be for us what it has been for her, which is something beneficial to mental health.
