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anything life preserving, eating chocolate and running come into the same category here, your brain releases serotonins. These chemicals induce a feeling of wellbeing and a natural high. I call it happy juice' and have experienced it many times from both sources.

Running reduces stress. I guess, beyond serotonins, there's a scientific reason for this but I'm not a scientific expert. All I know is when someone or something stresses you, your body starts to prepare for battle. Your heart speeds up and adrenaline gets released into the system to make you stronger, faster and ready for the fight. Unfortunately, your capacity for making logical and sensible decisions seems to become reduced. Not the best scenario for you, for example, to find your boss standing in front of you saying, "Well?" or to have someone cut you up on the drive home or to find sympathy for the rubbish day your partner had or referee infant arguments between your young children. As everybody tends to do things every day in a global conspiracy to ruin your life, you need to release somehow or you will become ill. Unlike, road rage, screaming at your boss until they give you the sack, throwing computers from tall buildings, divorce or eating young children, running is a legitimate, rewarding and readily available source of stress relief to most of us.

Finally (well, from me at least) there's the raised self esteem. OK, covering 3 miles in an hour may not seem like an Olympic achievement but it fair makes a difference when you were walking the same 3 miles in an hour and fifteen minutes a year ago. Also, when you do eat that bar of chocolate, it's not complete despair because you have either the memory of your last run or the intent of your next one to spur you on. Don't listen to people who tell you that you need to run the length of the Great Wall of China to lose the 6 stone you need to lose to reach your ideal body weight. The Chinese themselves tell us that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and running a mile and burning a hundred calories is better than tut tutting and losing nothing because someone who was trying to sell you the latest fad diet said this was not the way to go.

There's running groups nowadays that have events open for people of all abilities. Jogscotland in the UK for example with it's 5K challenges, even the Aukland Marathon in New Zealand can be entered as a walking event if you wish. Take it from me, and I have crossed the finish line of a run in last place, followed by an ambulance and flanked with two police motorbikes, there's nothing beats the feeling of plodding through some city streets at whatever pace with people on both sides of the road cheering you on. At the Berlin Marathon they called me Superman' and I believed them.

So, in conclusion, next time you unwrap that bar of chocolate, don't think it's a five minute fix on the rocky road to a slow and uneventful demise. Look that scrumptious snack in the face and say, "Yes my friend, you are good for my brain, but running is as well and I'm going out today..."

Learn more about this author, Sean Mcbride.
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