I had the pleasure to interview Dr Simon Cook on his PhD work which explored – as a first study of its kind – “Run-Commuting” as a mobile practice.
It is a term coined by Simon and means using running as a transport to move from home to work. Did you ever try run-commuting? I’ve done it sometimes and enjoyed how it helps to immediately switch off from work and find a different mode of being!
Part 1 here:
First, we discuss Simon’s own journey as a runner which, you will hear, has included a serious accident and long road back to being able to run again. As a very experienced runner, he has practiced running in various ways and also shares his own reflections on the shifts of the meaning of running in his life.
We then start exploring the run-commuting phenomenon. Who are the people who are doing this? What are the experiences that help or hinder the practice? For example, we discuss the aspect of running with a bag and how runners find a way to tolerate it. Certainly not always an easy task!
And of course, you will hear about the theoretical and conceptual framings that Simon used in making sense of this phenomenon.
In the second part of our episode, the conversation moves to explorations of the meanings and experiences of run-commuting. What meaning do runners bring to run-commuting? Is it only a way to manage your time efficiently, or is there also something else going on?
In the second part, we also discuss running as sustainable transport (which interestingly did not feature strongly in Simon’s findings) and the future potential of run-commuting as a mobile practice. With COVID and working from home, run-commuting has been put on hold for many people who were used to doing it. What are Simon’s thoughts, what is the future of run-commuting if and when working from an office returns to people’s lives?
We also hear about Simon’s current research on running during social distancing and how runners navigate the streets where it is not always easy to keep the distance from others.
Part 2 here:
Simon Cook is a human geographer and runner based at Birmingham City University. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Academic Support in the Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences. His PhD research (completed in 2020 in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London), investigated the rise of run-commuting in the UK. His ongoing research projects focus on multi-modal mobilities, post-collision cycling practices and running during social distancing.
Simon has a fascinating Jographies website where you can find lots of inspirational materials that explore various dimensions of running as a mobile practice. I had the honour to be interviewed as a part of Simon’s “I’m a Running Researcher” series; my thoughts can be read here.
You can follow Simon on Twitter @SimonIanCook and read more about his work on his Jographies blog.