At what moment can you consider yourself a runner?

at the moment I notice a bad guy right behind me.

You're a runner.

When it's pleasure and not a chore!

crap, i just ran a really hard four miles yesterday (not my longest run by far, but effort wise HARD) and it was DEFINITELY a chore. sometimes it is a pleasure and sometimes it's just pain hard... i guess i'm not a runner yet. :ohwell:

i'm guessing there are other runners out there like me who would admit that running isn't always a pleasure. :glasses:

After a particularly painful 8 miles yesterday, a friend reminded me that the 'bad' runs are the ones that make us enjoy the not-so-bad ones.

The moment you're done lacing those shoes and hitting the pavement!!

I'd say you are officially a runner. I don't ever think even if you stop for a while, you can ever be an 'ex', as long as you can run. I am 44 years old, got hooked on running in high school, stopped for about 10 years, started and stopped the last 10 years. Currently I am running and walking about 5 miles a day - maybe a mile of that running and enjoying it. I am doing a modified version of my own C25K. I too, do not think this time I will try to enter a race, as in the past it became a chore rather from the pleasure of running for exercise. That is just my previous experience with it. Keep up the pace and length until you decide you are at a comfortable running level. And enjoy! :flowerforyou:

I saw a quote when I first started running and it stuck with me... because it's true.
"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." - John Bingham

^^ This...
I am reading his book now called "No need for speed" It is a great book.
I began running last year at 230 lbs.. I had to stop because of an injury but have started "running" again. I actually merely jog, and only for a few min at a time in intervals (I was doing a mile before I got injured) but to me.. I am a runner. I love it, I love how invigorated I feel when I run.. I think being a runner is a state of mind and it seems you are already there.

I haven't read the other replies, so ignore me if you've heard this already :happy:
I think there is a switch in your brain (for want of a better description) and once it is turned on, then you are a runner. For me, I used to struggle along and try to run for longer and longer periods of time but it was a constant battle and more often than not I'd end up walking - at this stage I was still a walker and not a runner. Then I went on Outward Bound and one of my goals was to run the whole way in the half marathon, at the end, without walking - and I did. From then on I can go and run, the switch has been turned on in my brain and I am a runner! I'm not a fast runner and when unfit I run very slowly, but the battle has gone and I can run for as long as I want to go. I think part of it is coming to terms with the fact that the first 20-30 minutes of a run generally sucks - your legs feel like lead and your lungs are screaming, but during that time I hold on to the knowledge that if I can get through it then the rest of the run will be good.
I have also had running dreams - which are a bit like flying dreams - where I am running along and it is that sensation when you have been on the road for an hour or so and suddenly your stride lengthens out and you are bounding along effortlessly!

Great quote! I read that in his book, "The Courage to Start - A guide to running for your life". It's a great motivational and informative book on running for people that don't (and may never) see themselves as "runners". Myself included...

The day I chose to run over my favorite thing in the world, ice cream, was the day I decided I was a runner. Now I run all kinds of races including marathons! Never thought in a million years I would run (since I was the type to get notes out of gym class), but I AM A RUNNER ! Hehe