Can Running Make You High?

Most runners are familiar with the mysterious "runner's high". If you are not, then you are probably confused about what this crazy phenomenon is. It's exactly what it sounds like, it is when someone is running and they experience a euphoric high, such like one you might experience on mood altering drugs. Most people get happy and feel no pain, they feel like they are on the top of the world, or that they could run forever.

I myself have experienced this before and it is part of the reason that running can sometimes be enjoyable. It doesn't always happen when you are in the most pain or pushing yourself the hardest. I have experienced this in different points of my run. The time that I experience it most however, is when I am finishing a race. Endorphins take over and I can't feel any pain, all I can feel is emotion and determination, to pass as many people as possible at the end of the race and to finish strong.
I read a New York Times article called "Yes, Running Can Make You High" that talked about the timing of a runner's high. Many people talked about getting a euphoric effect at the end of a race, some being so strong that it made them weep. I have only experienced that extreme of emotions in one race in middle school. I was having a rough race, when I finished I pushed myself so hard and was so happy to have completed the race that I started to get emotional and even cried. However, during many high school races, I experienced a runner's high at the end of my races like described in the article.
Not everyone however, is able to experience a runner's high. Some of the friends that I run with have never experienced a runner's high while others that I talk to have only experienced it once or twice. It is different for everyone and it depends a lot on your environment.  For me, I experienced it more when I was younger, during middle school raced than I do now. I think that running has worn me down and the end of a race isn't as big of a deal as it once was. I also notice that I experience it more during track races than during cross country races because track is more intense and there is a lot more pressure at the end of a race. Like I said before, it depends on the environment.
I can't speak to how it compares to a high that you would get from using real mood altering drugs, but it is definitely a unique feeling, one that I have never felt outside of running. I wish I knew exactly how it happened and what the exact cause of it is, why some people experience it and others don't. However, what I do know is that when I finish a race I feel exhausted, yet accomplished, happy and unstoppable, it's the great feeling that comes from a runner's high.

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