Stuart Haynes, 40, is an Executive Director at a large global bank. At the same time, he is also a father with two young kids.

Yet despite all of his commitments, the runner still manages to find time to pursue his passion of running, even chalking up podium finishes at recent local races.

Stuart Haynes says that the best thing about running is that it does not take up a huge amount of time.

Some of Stuart’s running accomplishments today, include first position at the OSIM Sundown Marathon 2015 (42.195km category), first place at the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge 2015 (5.6km) and third place at this year’s recently concluded OSIM Sundown Marathon 2016 (42.195km category).

Stuart runs home everyday

How does Stuart find the time to juggle his time so effectively and get in his training runs? He said, “My secret is that I run home everyday after work! I’m generally too lazy to wake up in the mornings to run to work though. Running home is the best way to clock my mileage each day. Sometimes I run at lunch time too, but it’s not always easy because of my schedule.”

Stuart runs home from work daily.
Photo Credit: OSIM Sundown Marathon.

He added, “But the best thing about running though, is that it does not take up a huge amount of time. Golf takes a full day. For cycling, I find that you have to go for at least four hours to burn enough calories. For running you can just put on your trainers  and complete it in an hour. That is one of the best uses of time when you have a family, in my opinion.”

Didn’t do running when he was young

For someone who is so passionate about running today then, it is surprising that Stuart didn’t like running when he was younger. He said, “I started running at age 35. I used to play football, but I decided to stop that because I was getting injured all the time.”

Stuart used to dislike running when he was younger.

As a university student, Stuart was even smoking up to 20 sticks a day. But he has since given up this habit in favour of running.

He added, “I used to hate running – it was awful! But today I find it a good stress reliever. I fell in love with it, so I have been doing it everyday.”

Nowadays, Stuart runs eight times a week on average, clocking about 90 – 100km in weekly  mileage.

Important to fit running into your own lifestyle

And to make running into a routine and actually do it on a regular basis, Stuart advises that it’s important to fit the running into your lifestyle according to what works best for you personally.

He said “If you are good at getting up early, then get up in the mornings and run then. But if you like getting up late or running at night when it is cooler, then do it. It is about what works for your lifestyle and habits.”

Stuart (left) feels that it is important to fit running into your own lifestyle.

Stuart added, “For me, I am a late sleeper – my wife will tell you that I am. So there’s no way I can wake up in the mornings myself.”

But to him, it is all about priorities. Said Stuart, “Think about how much time you spend on the Internet and how much time you spend watching television. if you have the time to do these things then you have the time to run as well. Just set your priorities correctly.”

Running may not be for everyone

However, despite his own passion for running, Stuart also realises that this is not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea. It depends on your interests, hobbies and what motivates you.

For busy working professionals with young families like himself, Stuart advises that it is important to figure out which sport works for you and what will fit best into your own lifestyle, when trying to fit an exercise routine into your life.

Stuart acknowledges that running may not be a sport for everybody.

He said “I think that everyone has to find out what works for them. For me, running is a good stress reliever. I can do it straight out of the office and get home in not much time.”

Added Stuart, “Other people may prefer to lift weights or do some other activity, but you have to find out what works for you, and you will want to find time to do it if you like the activity.”

web counter