I based the title of my book, No Medal for Second Place, on the daunting reality of the job interviewing process. If you don’t finish first in a job interview there is no prize, just a rejection letter or silence. This isn’t some easy competition, like the Olympics, where second place earns you a silver medal. It is closer to the blood sport of the Hunger Games where there is one winner and everyone else loses.

But that scenario doesn’t apply to running as a way of exercise and, unless you have a medical condition that prevents you from running, I highly recommend it to jobseekers. In this race you needn’t finish first, or run painfully long distances, but don’t be surprised if the running bug bites you. I was when it bit me. My last marathon was in 2010 after minor injuries canceled my 2011 and 2012 campaign. (Foot pain, in both cases, began to develop toward the end of the 20+ mile training runs, and since I run for health I stopped training and didn’t compete. That said, I continued running shorter distances of 5-10 miles without incident. 2013? Nope, I’ve hung up my marathoning shoes..for now.)

Running offers some of the following benefits and advantages to other forms of exercise:

1. Stress relief. The job search process is very stressful and failing to deal with this stress can lead to debilitating psychological consequences. Another form of stress relief that is available to almost everyone is walking. Whatever exercise you choose, please exercise.
2. Mental acuity. I used to hear about brain food many years ago, but don’t hear anyone talking about it now. I believe there is a brain food and it is called oxygen. The brain is highly dependent on this food. So if you want to feed your brain, then increase your respiration, and running does this without you having to think about it.
3. Energy. People feel energized when they are around energetic types and unaccountably tired when they are around the slothful. This is because humans are emotional tuning forks. We begin to vibrate in sympathy with the person we are near. Running ups your energy level like few other exercises.
4. Appearance. When I started running I quickly lost the 15 pounds that the awesome, fat-rich foods of New Orleans had deposited on my frame. The number one thing I heard from people was how much younger it made me look. The impact of weight loss on our appearance is important to our self-esteem, and it affects our ability to be hired.
5. Location. The great outdoors are free. No gym fee required. The different routes you can take will be far more varied than the dreary inside of a gym. BETTER YET, let’s say you are obese and very self-conscious about your appearance next to the hard bodies in the gym, who you feel are looking at you with contempt. On the running path people are too busy processing their endorphins to look down upon others. In fact, I just finished my run about an hour ago and I saw several portly runners. Did I look down on them? No, the exact opposite. I thought, “I am glad to see some people out here exercising who need it the most.”

So get out there and run. Make it a part of your job search strategy. It benefits you in more ways than I have time to recount.