In celebration of Global Running Day, we share why the world runs—literally. Annick, Roberto, and Shaquana share stories from runners across the globe covering all seven continents (and even dabble in some outer space running from our friends at NASA) to explore the many reasons why humans run.

We all know running is transformative but hearing runners from every corner of the globe and beyond puts into perspective the unbridled power of simply putting one foot in front of the other.

Storytellers:

Dinée Dorame, Tiwa ancestral territory also known as Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, North America (Follow Dinée & Grounded Podcast)

Luisa Ines Rivas Diaz, Santiago, Chile, South America (Follow Luisa)

Runar Gundersen, Dramman, Norway, Europe (Follow Runar)

Rethabile Qekisi, Soweto, South Africa, Africa (Follow Rethabile)

Batkhishig Lkhagvadorj, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Asia (Follow Achilles International Mongolia)

Christie Dawes, New Castle, Australia (Follow Christie)

Sha Jessie Mao, Beijing, China telling the story of Antarctic running

Sunita Williams, NASA astronaut telling the story of running a marathon in space (Follow Sunita)

Join NYRR and thousands of people around the world that share your passion for the sport and run our free one-mile virtual race. Run the Virtual NYRR Global Running Day 1M Powered by Strava anywhere, anytime between June 1 and 6. Visit nyrr.org to sign up now!