Hannah Clark: All right, so this is an oral history interview for the South Carolina Honors College thesis project, More than the Mileage: Finding Community and a Sense of Place through Recreational Distance Running, documenting the perspectives and experiences of recreational distance runners. This is Hannah Clark, the date is January 31st, 2024, and today I’m interviewing Yezan Salam virtually via Zoom. I’m in Columbia, South Carolina, and Yezan is in Cleveland. Would you start by giving me your- Cleveland, Ohio, excuse me. Would you start by giving me your full name and spelling it for me?

YS: Yezan Salam, Y-E-Z-A-N S-A-L-A-M.

HC: Perfect, thank you. Alright, we’re going to start with some background. Where were you born, and if different, where do you currently reside?

YS: I was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and right now I’m currently in Cleveland, Ohio.

HC: Okay, perfect. How old are you?

YS: I was born in 1994, so I don’t know how old I’m- that. I think that’s like 29 or 28 or something like that.

HC: Tell me about your family a little bit, if you don’t mind.

YS: We’re originally Syrian. I come from a family of six. Well, sister, sister, sister, sister, brothers… six siblings, and my mom and dad. Some of us are right now in the U.S., the other half is in the United Arab Emirates right now. My dad’s a neurologist. I have an M.D., my sister has an M.D., my mom’s an engineer. My- two of my sisters have Pharm.D. degrees and M.D. degrees, and my other sister is starting her Pharm.D. college right now.

HC: Okay, awesome. So that leads me perfectly in my next question. What is your current role or occupation?

YS: Right now I’m working as a research fellow, waiting to get into residency hopefully next year.

HC: Okay, awesome. So now into the running. How long have you been a runner?

YS: So I started running on a treadmill during Covid in 2020, 2019? 2020.

HC: Okay. Awesome. What or who inspired this start into running?

YS: It was Covid. I was studying for board exams, I really needed to lose weight, and we weren’t going outside, so it was my one hour that I had, or half an hour that I had, to just exercise a little bit between study sessions essentially.

HC: Got it, got it. Can you describe to me a particular memory or moment from your early experiences with running?

YS: So, I started to lose weight essentially, so when the numbers started dropping I was like, ‘oh, this is super impressive,’ and I had this weird podcast that the U.K. has, a ‘Couch to 5K’ podcast, the corniest music in the world, and they’re just walking you through this 5K program and that’s how I started essentially, but yeah.

HC: Awesome. How did you find that podcast?

YS: It was through a lot of Googling, and because I was in the Middle East at that time, I wasn’t geography bound with apps I could use, et cetera, so I was able to get ahold of it and I found that it was free by the N.H.S., and it was an old [podcast], it wasn’t recent. They’ve had it for a while and it was free and I was like, ‘let’s see, let’s try it out, might as well.’ We have a treadmill that no one in the family was using at that time, ‘I was like, sure, let’s go.’

HC: Why not? If you have one, can you tell me about the group that you run with?

YS: So right now I run with RunWithTheWinners on Tuesdays and Run Wild CLE, or Run Wild Cleveland, on Fridays. Run Wild is a ‘social group that likes to run’, that’s according to Liz, who runs it, and RunWithTheWinners is more of a run group. Run Wild does a hills and stairs run usually, for 20 minutes, and then it does a body workout, and then they hang out somewhere after, RunWithTheWinners usually does a three mile or a 5K loop, and they hang out after.

HC: Okay, nice. How did you hear about these groups?

YS: So when I first got to Cleveland, I found a ‘Ditch Your Couch Downtown’ QR code by the Downtown Cleveland Association, and I was like, ‘sure, let’s download it, let’s see what- let’s see what’s there.’ And that led me to a separate run group that only runs during the summer, and at that point I hadn’t run for a year, I had stopped running on a treadmill. It was a run group that runs in the summer once a week, and then when that group ended, they sent out an email of all the other running groups in the city, and I just found two and I was like, ‘hey, they sound cool and they’re nearby to where I live, let’s join them,’ and I did.

HC: Okay, nice.

YS: Yep.

HC: So when did you move to Cleveland?

YS: 2022, I want to say.

HC: Okay. Okay, thanks, just getting some context. Can you describe to me how you feel when you run?

YS: Oh, it’s great. It’s the best thing in the world. Headphones on Fallout Boy, which I don’t listen to unless I’m running, they’re my running artists at this point, and just, you know, the wind, and the environment, and people are running with you, and all paces are welcome, so you never feel too bad ’cause you’re going slowly. You never feel too bad, you never feel slow, you don’t feel discouraged, you’re going slowly. Run Wild, the run that they do has a loop where two halves are doing opposite sides, so we’re always high fiving each other on the way, and it’s a blast. It’s the best thing that I’ve done in Cleveland, including my job, since I moved to Cleveland.

HC: I love to hear that. So kind of going off of that, how would you compare running alone compared to in a group?

YS: Oh, it’s completely different. So we had a week recently in Cleveland a week ago where it was too cold to run outside, so I was doing 10Ks on a treadmill and I had to do three. My running plan had me doing three 10Ks and I’m like, ‘oh, this is on a treadmill,’ and everyone’s like, ‘hey, have you watched Abbott Elementary?’ So I was distracting myself with that, but it’s completely different. The treadmill motions are different, the environment that you’re running in is different, it just, it feels shorter, it’s completely different. And I’ll do long distances outside, versus inside, it’s like, ‘oh, after 10K on a treadmill, it’s like, that’s it, I can’t do anymore.’ It’s boring, essentially. Yes, it becomes a chore.

HC: That makes sense. I love that show, by the way.

YS: Good show. Especially on a [treadmill], I didn’t know about it and I was like, ‘this is interesting.’ I looked at it, I’m like, ‘oh, this is very Office-like’ where it’s a camera following around the crew and they look at the camera. I’m like, ‘oh, this is good.’ And it’s [20 minute] episodes, which is almost an hour, which is my average 10K, which is almost an hour, an hour, a couple of minutes, ‘I’m like, that’s good, I can do that.’

HC: Yeah. So you mentioned a training plan. Can you tell me about what this plan is and if you have any goals coming up?

YS: I found the training plan- so I initially started using a Garmin training plan that came with my Garmin running watch, and I didn’t like it. I don’t know what it was about it, but it didn’t feel interactive enough. Then I stopped using running plans, I just ran, just recreationally, and I kind of got bored with running the same pace at the same, every time when I go out. So I was like, let’s see if I can find something. At that point, I had found a YouTube channel called The Running Channel. They’re U.K.-based and they host their own runs and all that stuff, and they partnered with a running app called Runna, R-U-N-N-A, and it’s like, ‘okay,’ I downloaded it, it was for free, but at the time I had two weeks free on their premium subscription, thanks to the YouTube channel. I tried it out, I’m like, ‘oh, this is interesting,’ and I kept on with it and I ended up paying for a full year subscription to it, and I kept on with it. The benefit that they have is that they have running coaches who you could contact and they look at your program and they tell you what to do, what not to do, and added different types of running, you know, intervals, long runs, drop, whatever to my running program so that changed everything up and that’s what I’ve been using.

HC: Okay, nice.

YS: Right now, my running goals, I haven’t signed up for anything. I’m not a ‘signup for a race’ type of person. I’m more of a, ‘just want to be able to do that distance’ type of person, so I had done two halves by myself and I had gotten a 2:30, and then I just recently finished a Runna plan for a half marathon that got me down to a 2:15, but right now I’m doing a 5K and I want to hit a sub 25 minute 5K, essentially.

HC: Okay, nice. So you have some races in the horizon? Well, it’s not-

YS: More like I do it myself.

HC: Yes. Okay. Okay, that makes sense. Can you explain to me the impact of different locations of where you have lived or have spent time on your relationship with running?

YS: Yeah, so in the Middle East, it’s hot. We were living in Saudi Arabia at the time, and it’s too hot to run outside. Everything there is A.C., so running outside isn’t an option, so you’d stick to treadmill runs or running around in a loop on a track in the gym, et cetera, and that, that’s not fun. But here in Cleveland, we have all four seasons, and they’re running throughout all four seasons, which is super impressive, and it’s change of scenery, et cetera, and it’s nice to get to know the city that way. I don’t have a car, so everywhere I go is walking, biking, running occasionally at times. So it’s nice to be able to find places in the city through- with the run group.

HC: For sure. Again, branching off from that, how do you feel connected to your surroundings when you’re running?

YS: So I think because Cleveland- people run in Cleveland, cars are more forgiving, so I don’t  have to really worry about traffic when I’m running, ’cause I know that people will stop for me, versus in the Middle East, I never did run outside, but they drive like animals over there, so they’re really bad drivers over there. So that’s one thing. But also just like, you know, I’d be running down a street, and it’s all green because of all the trees, et cetera, and that’s nice to take in when you’re running. The towpath here is gorgeous during the Spring and when there are leaves on the trees, et cetera, and even the riverside. You lived in Cleveland, so I’m thinking – you know the towpath?

HC: Yes, yes.

YS: Gorgeous place to run when you want to run a lot of hills for a long distance, but it’s a really nice place to run, especially when the weather and the seasons are suitable.

HC: For sure. How would you describe what running means to you to a non runner?

YS: I would say that it’s a time for me to be with myself, but not totally, because I’m listening to music, but it’s just enough time for me to be with myself and to move and change the long hours of sitting in a chair working or studying or whatever. It just, it gives you that time that’s your time essentially.

HC: For sure. And you mentioned your time and taking that as a break from something going on during your day. Connected to that, how has distance running impacted your mental health, if at all?

YS: I’m sure it’s helped. I don’t particularly- I don’t have any mental- I haven’t been diagnosed with anything, I don’t have anything that I am dealing with particularly. But I do know that on stressful days, I’ll go out. Yesterday, for example, it was a stressful day, I went out, ran a 27 minute 5K, and I’m like, ‘oh, well that’s good to know’ that I could do that if I wanted to. But it’s like, you know, just put your foot to the ground and just pound that stress out, I guess. That’s essentially what it is, but I haven’t been diagnosed with anything, so I can’t really talk to that specifically.

HC: Got it. Got it. I know you’re fairly new to the running scene, but how has your relationship with distance running changed throughout your time participating?

YS: Oh, I haven’t done more than- when I was running on the treadmill, it was nothing more than a 5K. Now at this point, I’ve done half distances. Maybe I’ll sign up for a marathon, maybe I’ll do a marathon occasionally, after my 5K plan, everyone’s like, ‘oh, you should do the Cleveland Marathon,’ and I’m like, ‘but it’s a marathon and it’s so long.’ And I’m like, why would I do that for four hours, five hours of my life? I don’t find that particularly enjoyable, but I also didn’t find running a half distance as a goal that I wanted to reach, or something I wanted to do. But then it just happened essentially, and I was like, ‘okay, I could see why people do it.’ I don’t know, maybe, who knows? But I know that the distances will go up. I definitely won’t be doing anything more than a marathon. That just seems like body torture, torturing yourself at that point. I’m just like, that’s not, you know.

HC: How has being part of a running group influenced your running journey?

YS: It’s changed a lot, so it helped me to- equipment to get, what gear to look at. It’s how I socialize in Cleveland where it’s like I’ll go out, it’s like, these are my friends, essentially, the running group is my friends. We ended up branching up and hanging out and eating, going to restaurants, et cetera when we’re not running, and it’s my social circle essentially.

HC: For sure. How has the group changed through your time participating? Has it been mostly the same group, or what does the group look like, I guess?

YS: So RunWithTheWinners has, at this point, every Tuesday, a hundred plus people show up to the running group and they run. Run Wild is usually on the smaller side, 30 to 40, 20 to 30, 20 to 40 people, and they cycle out, so it’s not always the same people, essentially. The vibe of the two groups are different where it’s like RunWithTheWinners is more, ‘hey, you’re running this loop, you’re running a 5K’ while Run Wild is more of a social aspect to it, but they’re both big groups, so it’s like you’ll find people that you know, people you don’t know, people you’re interacting with the first time, and just like if we ended up hanging out later at different spots and throughout the week at different places, et cetera, yeah.

HC: For sure. Well, that sounds awesome. Is there, conversely, talking from the positive experiences, but is there a time if this applies, that you didn’t feel any purpose or benefit from running?

YS: Purpose or benefit? No, but I have had injuries where it’s like, ‘oh, if I wasn’t running, I wouldn’t have been injured like this before,’ but it’s nothing too bad, it was just the overuse, overuse strain, essentially. So I haven’t been put out of commission for long enough to be like, ‘oh, damn it, it was because I was running.’ You know what I mean? Nothing, no breaks, no nothing, but nothing negative so far at least.

HC: Okay. Can you tell me a little bit about that injury or that time where you weren’t participating?

YS: Yeah, so- I had found two new run groups that I wanted to check out, and I didn’t know that one of ’em was a serious run group, it’s PLX [Portage Lakes Running Club], I think you might know about them in Cleveland, PLX group. And these guys are serious runners. They’re like, oh, our casual run is like a 6K, and they’re fast, and I didn’t know that at the time, and it was during a week where I had run a mile a day on the treadmills during the days that I wasn’t in a run group, and I had pushed my body to more than what I could tolerate essentially. So I ended up joining the PLX group, and I was like, ‘okay, I’m going to try to keep up with the person in front of me,’ and the person in front of me was running too fast for me to run, and it’s just like, you feel good during the run, you go to sleep. I woke up, I’m like, oh, I can’t put any weight on this leg at all. Something’s up. And I know enough- again, like I said, I have an M.D., so I know enough that it wasn’t broken and it was probably a strain, but I was like, let’s go get an X-ray, figure out, see what it is. And then I did that, everything was fine there, and my P.T. was like, oh, you have no core, and you got to work on your strength, et cetera. I’m like, ‘yeah, but I run.’ She’s like, ‘yeah, but that’s not enough.’ You have to do, you had the injury because, first of all, you used certain muscles and you had a slip up sometime recent, and then your body overcompensated, and then this very small muscle had a lot of strain on it. I’m like, ‘well, that makes sense.’ I’ve never used that muscle unless I’m running, it’s one of those weird foot muscles that [you] never actually think about. I’m just like, okay, I got to work on strength exercises, got all the bands and all that stuff. But other than that, that’s all, it just pulled me out for six weeks. But then other than that, I haven’t had any issues.

HC: Nice. So after staying diligent and working through that, you were able to get back on the scene.

YS: Yep.

HC: I guess would you have any advice for someone who’s wanting to kickstart their running, or you know, start somewhere?

YS: Find a run group. I think that if it wasn’t for a run group, if I didn’t check out that initial run group that sent me out that email, I wouldn’t be running in Cleveland right now. It’s just find a run group, and know that everyone is welcoming, usually in run groups, and you don’t have to keep up with their pace, you could find your own pace, and don’t compare yourself to other people in the run group, you’ll get there eventually. But just find a run group, that’s the encouragement that you need. And then dedicate yourself to it. So it got to a point where it’s like a month in, I’m like, ‘oh, if I don’t show up, they’ll think something is weird. Why [wasn’t] I there?’ So it’s like, okay, then I’ll go that day, go that week, et cetera.

HC: No, definitely. Similarly, I guess, how would you… (pauses at 19:10) …let me think how to phrase this. I guess, how would you foresee your own running journey progressing as you move into the future?

YS: I’m definitely going to continue running. It’s not something I’m going to stop. I’m actually going to the Middle East in two months or so, two or three months for a full month. So it’ll be fun to see if I keep up running there, even though my little brother recently picked it up, so I’ll definitely be running with him. But yeah, I’m going to continue running. It’s not something I see myself stopping. It’s something that- it’s a conversation starter, so that’s always nice to have, especially when you’re interviewing for a job, for residency or whatever, which I’m going to be doing soon. And I don’t see myself stopping. Once you start, I just don’t stop. I’ve also put a lot of money into shoes, so I wouldn’t stop there. It’s like they tell you it’s free, but it’s really not.

HC: I know, I know. I mean, I guess as an aside, what shoes do you run in?

YS: So I’m currently running in New Balance 1080s. I started off running in Costco shoes, which are not shoes to run in. And then I won a pair of Adidas Stars in a raffle that they held in Cleveland at one of the market pub runs. And then I got used to that shoe, bought another pair of that shoe, then I bought a pair of New Balance, More v4s, the max cushion shoes, that’s the shoe I had that injury in, so then I stopped using that shoe and I bought a 1080, which is what I’m running in right now.

HC: Okay, nice, nice. I’ve ran in that before.

YS: They’re wonderful shoes.

HC: Definitely. Can you tell me about a time that you felt proud to participate in one of your running groups?

YS: So, there was a run that we had on Saturday- so I’m not a morning runner, I’m more of an evening runner. I don’t [like] waking up that early to run, and most of the time to get to the run place, I have to walk for a mile and a half, which is enough distance that it’s like, ah, that’s a 40 minute walk to get there, or a 30 minute walk. But there was this one run, it was sponsored by Asics, they were premiering their Nova Blast 4 releases, the new shoes, and it was held with RunWithTheWinners. And they offered loaner shoes, where it’s like you switch out, you try their shoe for that run, see if you like it, and maybe buy it after. And I put on those shoes and those shoes felt right, and I was like, okay, ‘let’s see how far we could go with this.’ And I ran a 26:30 5K, and I’m just like, ‘God damn, I didn’t know I could do that.’ And then it gets worse. So I ran and I ended- I reached the end, and it was three miles on my watch. And I’m like, okay, that’s it. I’m done. The run is over. I pause my watch, my Garmin, and I didn’t get a 5K time thing. And I Google it, ‘I’m like, why?’ And it’s like, ‘oh, a 5K is 3.2 miles.’ I’m like, ‘well, I’m counting that.’ That’s it. I don’t care. It’s like three miles, 3.2 miles. And the 26:30 was adding 30 seconds with the 0.2 at the end, essentially. I’m just like, ‘that sucks,’ but again, that run was a run I was super proud of.

HC: For sure. No, still something to be proud of. We’ll count it.

YS: Like three miles, 3.2 miles. I don’t know. Yeah.

HC: And you’ve definitely hinted at this in a lot of your answers so far, but overall, how would you say running has impacted your life?

YS: It’s made it better, I’ve gotten healthier. Again, my social circles expanded outside of the people that I work with, so the people that I run with now. I feel healthier, and I feel better after a run, essentially. There isn’t anything [specific]. I haven’t had that runner’s high that everyone talks about yet. Everyone’s like, ‘oh, you get that after you cross the half marathon distance.’ I’m like, well, I’m not there yet, but I haven’t gotten the runner’s high, et cetera, but it’s just that- you feel- I just, you feel better. The rest of your day feels better. The rest of my day feels better after a run.

HC: Definitely. And you mentioned that you’re going back to the Middle East in a little bit. How do you foresee yourself running with your brother? Will you guys run together or have you had this? Yeah, is there any connection you guys have there with it?

YS: So I don’t know. So he recently started, they found essentially a running group that runs once a week in the Middle East right now, and they’re in the United Arab Emirates. And he just started, and he’s younger than- he’s substantially [younger], he’s 15 years younger than me, so we’re not going to be running at the same pace, obviously. And that’s totally fine, but I think it’ll be nice for us to be able to run together. And we used to bond over video games and now we’re bonding over the outdoors. So that’ll be fun.

HC: For sure, for sure. Well, that’s all I have. I just wanted to say I really appreciate you taking the time to walk me through your answers with that and share with me your running story. I think it sounds like you have an awesome setup with both your groups and, you know, starting to build up these goals. So I’m cheering for you.

YS: Thank you.