Every Friday, three DC area bloggers Mary at Mar On the Run, Cynthia at You Signed Up For What?! and Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC to host the Friday Five linkup.  Anyone can join with their own Friday Five post (yes, it must be a Friday Five!!)  They encourage you to visit other blogs on the linkup, comment, share and engage!

This week, the theme is National Running Day.

National Running Day, held annually on the first Wednesday in June, is a day when runners everywhere declare their passion for running.

Here are my 5 reasons to run:

1. JA is my running buddy.  He cannot run, cannot walk, cannot go to school, cannot digest his food but he is my BIGGEST SUPPORTER.

2.  There were times that I couldn’t – broken ankle, stress fracture, broken foot.  There may be times in the future when I cannot. So when I CAN, I RUN.  I will never take this gift for granted.

3. I am a goal-driven person. I want to get better.  I also know if I don’t run often, then it will not happen. So I keep running and hope that my finish times reflect my efforts.

4. It’s no secret that I love ice cream. I would eat it every day especially soft ice cream in the summer.  As I get older, my metabolism must be slowing down because I have to watch what I eat for the first time.  If I run, I hope that I can watch it less.

5. I actually feel younger now than before I started running.  People say that “I don’t look my age.” (I love those people.) But I respond that I don’t feel my age.  I credit running for that.  (I am 62 btw.)

Happy Running! How did you celebrate National Running Day?