Why Some People in Addiction Recovery Turn to Running — and Why a Marathon Is Not a Cure

As Sydney Marathon weekend puts running in the spotlight, an ABC feature published August 30 is asking a more complicated question: why do some people in addiction recovery end up running enormous distances?

The story follows people who describe running as part of rebuilding life after alcohol or drug problems. One man, Matt Johnstone, told ABC that running gave him a sense of reward, structure and accomplishment after years of addiction. Another runner, James Cooper, described marathon training as part of a much broader recovery story.

It is easy to turn that into a neat headline: replace addiction with running.

I think that is exactly where we should become more careful.

Running can give recovery something it desperately needs: somewhere to go

Early recovery creates empty space. The substance may be gone, but the hours, rituals, emotional regulation and reward-seeking do not vanish with it.

Running can fill some of that space in unusually concrete ways. There is a route. A time. A distance. A body that tells you exactly where you are. Progress is measurable in minutes and kilometres rather than in vague promises that life will eventually feel better.

That matters.

Research has explored exercise as a possible adjunct to treatment for substance use disorders, including potential benefits for mood, physical health, cravings and quality of life. But the evidence is not a licence to call exercise a stand-alone treatment or a universal answer.

Recovery is bigger than cardio.

The “healthy addiction” idea is catchy — and a little dangerous

People sometimes describe intense exercise as swapping a destructive addiction for a healthy one. I understand why the phrase feels satisfying. It gives the old intensity somewhere socially acceptable to land.

But I do not love it.

If the lesson becomes “I need to be compulsive about something, so at least this one makes my resting heart rate impressive,” we may be congratulating the shape of the behaviour without asking what is underneath it.

Running can be wonderful. So can lifting, swimming, hiking, painting, church, meetings, volunteering, music or making breakfast for your children without a hangover.

The point is not to find a prettier obsession. The point is to build a life with more than one way to feel alive.

That is why our guide Finding Purpose After Getting Sober focuses on rebuilding meaning rather than finding one activity that has to carry your entire recovery.

A marathon gives you a finish line. Recovery usually does not.

This may be the most emotionally appealing part of endurance sport for someone rebuilding a life.

You train. You suffer. You reach a finish line. Somebody puts a medal around your neck.

Recovery is much less tidy.

There is no official morning when somebody announces that you have completed grief, repaired every relationship, learned how to tolerate discomfort and become permanently immune to the old escape routes.

That can make a marathon psychologically satisfying: for one day, effort becomes visible.

But the medal cannot do tomorrow’s recovery for you.

A finish line can remind you that you are capable of continuing. It should not have to prove that you are finally fixed.

Exercise belongs beside support, not above it

For some people, movement becomes one useful layer of recovery. It can coexist with treatment, peer support, AA or other groups, therapy, medication when appropriate, family support and ordinary routines.

If you are figuring out what a broader recovery path can look like, Alternatives to AA: Different Paths to Recovery covers several support models, while What Keeps People Sober for 10, 20, or 30 Years? looks at the less glamorous systems that tend to matter over time.

And that is probably the part I want to keep from the runners in the ABC story.

Not “run a marathon and recover.”

Something quieter:

Recovery needs places for your energy to go. Running can be one of them. It just does not need to become the whole map.

Related Reading

• Finding Purpose After Getting Sober
• Alternatives to AA: Different Paths to Recovery
• What Keeps People Sober for 10, 20, or 30 Years?

Sources

• ABC News — running, the brain, addiction recovery and marathon training
• Peer-reviewed review — exercise interventions in substance use disorder treatment
• Pexels — contextual running photograph by RUN 4 FFWPU, free to use

Image note: The featured image is a contextual licensed running photograph and does not depict the people interviewed by ABC or the Sydney Marathon event.

Medical note: Exercise can support physical and mental health, but addiction treatment needs vary. This article does not present running as a substitute for professional treatment, medical care or evidence-based recovery support.