A girl from California has perfectly summed up the mixed emotions that come with running.
In a reel filmed by her mom, Kimberly Clark, her 3-year-old daughter explains how jogging on the track feels like “suffering.”
Mimicking the panting and heavy breathing that follows during a run, Clark expresses how much she, and her heart, doesn’t like the feeling. Moments later, she invites her mom to feel her racing heartbeat then declares, “I’m alive, I’m alive!”
@trackclubbabe
Clark has big aspirations for her running career. “I love to run but I’m kinda suffering. After I run, I do some stretches and then I go run again and again and again. One day I’ll run in the ‘Balympics!’ [Olympics, Kimberly corrected],” she said.
Kimberly, a running coast and founder of FAST training plans with her husband, couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s honest response.
“She was so dramatic, yet right on. She loves to run so much and practices all day at the house: pinning a bib on, stretching, getting into her starting blocks (as if the marathon even uses starting blocks), and then racing and asking us to cheer for her and also commentate on her racing—just like she sees the marathon race announcers do on TV,” the 40-year-old said.
While she expected Clark to say how much she loves running, the use of the word suffering caught her off guard.
“It was clear that she fully understood the meaning of ‘suffering’ while running. And then Clark saying [she’s] alive fully encapsulates what running feels like for all of us, especially when we are finished. She’s been around running all her life so it’s clear that she gets it,” Kimberly told Newsweek.
The mom of one has been a passionate runner ever since she was inspired by her father, Tracy Clark, who held a marathon record for his age group at just 12 years old. Despite a tough start with her first run in high school, Kimberly fell in love with the sport in her late twenties.
She and her husband Tyler Underwood travel the world together, often bringing Clark along to share in the experience.
Posting the reel on her Instagram (@trackclubbabe), little Clark went completely viral on the platform amassing over 20 million views.
Thousands of seasoned runners resonated with Clark’s feelings. “After years of running, who knew the most accurate description of running I’ll ever hear is from a 3-year old,” one user wrote.
“Omg Clark is dropping the most relatable content out there!” another added.
At the end of the day, running is more than a sport for Kimberly and always wants it to remain fun for her daughter.
“I want her to love movement and see the joy in it; to never feel pressured by society’s toxic messaging to feel like she needs to use movement as punishment for her body but to see it as something we are so privileged and blessed to do and that we enjoy,” she said.