Really hard to focus on laps of the driveway when your neighbour is ‘ supporting ’ you with a beer in hand !
A typical Strava map of a driveway run … with a few ‘ detours ’ to other parts of the property
• You can run with your phone and listen to music ... Overseas readers may be wondering why you can ’ t run with your phone outside the sanctuary of your home – let ’ s just say that it ’ s not a good idea to run the streets with your phone in this part of the world , unless you ’ ve got a really good insurance policy , or it ’ s time for an upgrade anyway .
• You can get the whole family involved ... With screen time on the increase and mental health on the decline , we instituted a daily Vitamin D ritual where our daughters could only do screen time once they ’ d done a certain number of laps of the driveway . This provided some great bonding time … but it was quite demoralising to have my daughters sprint off into the distance on a regular basis .
• No mask required ... The etiquette of mask-wearing while running is contentious . Personally , I run with a buff around my neck and will go gangster in close proximity to another pedestrian wearing a mask . But let ’ s face , if you ’ re not leaving your footprints around all over town , you don ’ t need to run with a prophylactic .
• Ecologically-friendly weeding ... I made a point of trampling into oblivion all the weeds that continually crop up on the driveway . No need for pesticides or back-breaking work – the weeds didn ’ t stand a chance again my size 12 Asics !
• Deep thinking time ... Given enough laps of your driveway , you ’ ll be able to think of ways to justify pretty much anything … like the unexpected joys of driveway running .
About the Author
The Running Mann has run over 240 marathons and ultras , and his current mission is to run every marathon in South Africa . He recently fulfilled a lifetime goal of securing a shoe sponsorship from The Sweatshop Broadacres and Asics South Africa ( and a running kit sponsorship from Runderwear ), thus allowing him to run more races and share their stories . You can follow his adventures on Twitter , Facebook or Instagram , and on his popular blog .
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