Finding Happiness in Running: A Qualitative Analysis of the Lived Experience of a Cross-country Athlete

Found especially at the high school and college levels, the sport of cross-country running is practiced by athletes around the globe. Characterized by rigorous training, this sport is accompanied by challenges that test the perseverance and mental toughness of a runner. This thesis aims to answer the question, how is happiness achieved in running? Approaching this question from a phenomenological perspective, this project utilizes interviews that inquire into the lived experience of cross-country athletes to better understand how these athletes obtain fulfillment in running. Two groups of cross-country runners were interviewed for this thesis. The first group consisted of three male and four female current collegiate runners, who, at the time of being interviewed, actively ran for a college cross-country team. The second group consisted of four male and four female former cross-country runners, who previously ran for a structured high school team and still consider themselves to be consistent runners. This second group of runners run primarily on their own and have spent their time after their high school cross-country season navigating running in the absence of a team. Upon analyzing the answers to the provided open-ended questions, nine themes were discovered that give insight into how happiness is achieved in this sport: 1) One of the biggest motivators for running is self-improvement, 2) Running is a significant stress reliever and way to obtain a sense of freedom, 3) A team is a significant contributor to a cross-country runner’s happiness, 4) There is much pride and joy to be found in suffering, especially when that suffering is experienced with others in pursuit of collective betterment, 5) Former cross-country runners often undergo a significant shift in purpose within running after leaving their high school team, forcing them to find new ways to identify with running and achieve fulfillment, 6) While some collegiate runners experience increased running satisfaction in college, others are burdened by the heightened expectations of this higher level of competition, 7) The ways in which success is measured has a significant impact on a cross-country runner’s happiness, 8) A deeply rooted running identity can produce much happiness; however, the ways in which that identity expresses itself may negatively affect the runner, and 9) Cross-country runners reported wishing they took better care of their bodies. These themes highlight the importance of prioritizing one’s mental and physical well-being and adopting a more multifaceted approach to success that prevents an overemphasis of objective running improvement.