Walkers and joggers enjoying a beautiful afternoon on the Katy Trail. (Taylor Henry/The Daily Campus)

Barbara O’toole, a wife and mother of three, has been running since she was 10 years old. She was a sprinter on the University of North Dakota’s track team. She has also run several half-marathons, a full marathon and triathlons.

“For me to put in 10 miles a day or 60 miles a week was nothing,” O’toole said.

However, she has also had several injuries.

“When I was in college I tore my groin muscle coming out of the blocks and that did in my career,” O’toole said. “I have had numerous shin splints. I’ve had twisted ankles, a broken foot, torn ligaments.”

Yet O’toole said she still loves to run.

“It’s such an addiction, and it’s a good addiction,” she said.

According to Bryan Millet, a track and cross-country coach at Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, Texas, running has several health benefits. He said it helps develop overall fitness, helps improve your cardiovascular system and can also help people lose weight.

O’toole says running also has mental health benefits, including stress relief.

“You get in the zone basically, you can shut off the rest of the world and you can think,” she said.

While O’toole uses running as a means to be by herself, Anson Sobers says one of the things he enjoys most about running is the community. Sobers has been running for the past six years. He originally started running to make sure he was getting in some cardiovascular exercise. Not long after, he decided to enter a 5k race. That race opened his eyes to the relationship side of the sport.

“I guess I never really knew that the running community was such a big community,” Sobers said. “That first race is really what got me addicted to running.”

Three months after Sobers entered the 5k, he completed a marathon. Unlike O’toole, Sobers hasn’t had any major injuries. He partially attributes his lack of injury to cross training. In addition to strength training, Millet said runners can help prevent injuries by having the correct shoes and running on the right surfaces. He said runners often wear the same pair of tennis shoes for up to two years.

He said runners who run several miles multiple times per week should replace their tennis shoes every six months. Millet also said runners should be careful what surface they run on ­— concrete is probably the worst to run on because it doesn’t give. Cross-country type surfaces give more, but Millet said runners have to be more careful about stepping correctly so they don’t twist their ankles.

Although O’toole has had to work through several injuries, she said running is still great exercise for her because it is so convenient.For Millet, O’toole and Sobers, running is more than a sport — it is a lifestyle.