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As well as its benefits to physical fitness, for many people running is about mental wellbeing too.
During World Mental Health Week, England Athletics is working to inspire non-runners to dig out their trainers and get moving.
We joined the meeting at a #RunAndTalk session in Birmingham to hear how it has changed their lives.
Shah Begeum, 39, is a paralegal at a law firm in Birmingham and started running by joining Couch to 5K group.
"I went through mental health issues when my marriage broke down." I was seven years ago and I felt like I had no direction or focus, "she said.
"My mental health stemmed from my physical health, which was made my mental health worse.
"Running has just gone all the way, it's getting me going back to my desk every Tuesday lunchtime.
"My first run lasted just 30 seconds but I thought to myself 'I'm going to do it' and now I've done a marathon.
"I really feel the impact on my mental health."
Andrew Tipton, 25, who works in a bookmaker, said running his life back on track.
"I was going through a stressful time at work.
"I was semi-homeless, living with friends, and had six months of experience.
"I run to relive stress and it's definitely played a part of getting back to a good place.
"It's great to get some sun and exercise."
Jennifer Meierhans on the #RunAndTalk
For me, the hardest part of running is getting my trainers on and leaving the house.
As we chatted while stretching out in the park everyone said they felt the same struggle.
I worried that I would not be able to keep up, but the point of a conversation is where everyone can speak comfortably.
So I spend my lunch hour having a leisurely trot along the canal and getting to know some lovely people.
They wait for one another, talk about their lives and they are each other's motivation to leave the office.
It's a great opportunity to get yourself, and anything on your mind, out in the open.
Thomas Glave splits his time between Birmingham and New York, where he works as a professor of English and creative writing.
"I'm not suffering from depression but I'm sure I'm getting a lot of help," he said.
"It's so much about you." I used to be a smoker, I was half-way when I was still smoking.
"It's really making me feel that it's really possible." It made me feel that I was no longer addicted to a substance I did not need anything I liked.
"I did not depend on cigarettes for that feeling, I get that from running instead.
I'm always saying 'Well I ran, I did this very hard thing, so now I can come back and do this other very difficult thing'. "
Junaid Riaz, a 27-year-old barista, started when he could not do a half marathon.
"I'd never had any mental health issues before that.
"I've got some brilliant people through it.
"Each and every one of them has their own individual story to do with mental and physical health.
"I've gone to the marathon, full marathon, several 10Ks and now I represent my club at regional competitions."
