Do you have to pick them to be able to run with you
Age: 63
CA Notice at Collection.
When did you start running?
I was trying to remember that. I know I've been running for at least 30 years, because our older son is 29 and I had to stop a couple of weeks before he was born, because I was too big to jog around any more. So probably 30 or more years.
When did you start running?
I used to walk a lot with a friend in the neighborhood, and then I just decided at one point to pick up the pace a little bit. I started running and liked it a lot better because it made me feel like I got some exercise, so I just kept it up.
Nutrition - Weight Loss?
I usually try to run about five days a week. I live up on the Hill, so I do one of my favorite runs ever. I love this run in D.C. that goes down around the Capitol, out on the Mall, and back up. It's a beautiful run that makes me feel very patriotic. It's a little under four miles, so I try to do that on the weekdays that I run. I try to run a little bit longer on weekends, closer to six miles. So I just go a little farther. Sometimes I vary that a bit, but I tend to circle back to that favorite run.
Running Was His Life. Then Came Putins War?
I used to come to D.C. pretty regularly for meetings and always ended up staying in the downtown area, and I just would always gravitate out toward the Mall. There's something pretty inspirational and majestic about running between all the monuments that makes me feel good in the morning. Sometimes I finish humming "God Bless America" under my breath. That has always been a beautiful run. Since I live in the area, that always seems like a logical place that is pretty convenient. But when the cherry blossoms are out, I run around the Jefferson Memorial so I can get a good dose of cherry blossoms.
Do you see running as a good prevention for childhood obesity?
No, actually, I've got guys on the security detail that run with me.
We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back?
(Laughs) Most run, and some of them actually bike instead of run. Over the course of a year and a half, some of them have had to stop running because of various injuries. I keep teasing them because I'm much older than any of them and I'm still running.
Do you talk to them when you run?
No, I run early in the morning, and I've always done that. I started with that timetable because it was the time that I could get out of the house and not disturb anybody else. So when my kids were born and when they were little, it was much easier to exercise early in the morning when they were still asleep and not have to interrupt them by coming home from work, seeing them, and then going out again. As I got busier, mornings became the time of day I could control. I just get up earlier, so whether I'm on the road or here, I can always run early in the morning. Part of it has become a way to organize my day or my thoughts, and get a little time to think about what I'm doing or mull over some problem or issue that I'm dealing with, so I don't usually run as a social event. It's more of a bit of time by myself, and a bit of a thinking time. They're usually in a place where they can see me, but I don't necessarily see them, and so I'm not talking to somebody when I run.
A Renewed Relationship With Running?
I guess it has probably…I don't want to say renewed my interest because I never really lost it. Running produces results—I know this from the way I feel. And now that I'm in the primary health agency in the world, I have the scientific backup to show how important it is to work out on a daily basis. From working on the childhood obesity campaign with the First Lady, running has been something that I now talk about to people and promote as an exercise option that people can do for a good part of their lives. From talking on a regular basis to kids about exercise, I can say that one of the things about running is that you don't need any fancy equipment. You need a pair of sneakers, which I think most kids have, and a little space, which you can usually find somewhere at school, somewhere in your neighborhood, somewhere around, and it probably is one of the most natural form of exercise to most kids. They start out running around, and then it becomes a great way to promote a regular routine because they don't need a lot of training or equipment to stay in good shape.
What's the goal of Physical Fitness and Sports Month?
Our ultimate goal is to raise awareness about how important physical fitness is to all of us. Staying active can help prevent some of our most costly and widespread health problems, like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. So let's celebrate Physical Fitness and Sports Month this May and try to treat every month like Physical Fitness Month.
Do you run alone?
The First Lady believes in opening up the White House to the community, often referring to her home as "the people's house." So in March, she kicked off the 2011 "Let's Move!" on the South Lawn series, which started last summer and was a huge success. Once a month, area youth are invited to the White House grounds to take part in fun physical activities, sometimes with celebrities and sports figures. To celebrate Physical Fitness and Sports Month, May's South Lawn Series will feature more youth and families than ever before and is billed as a "fitness extravaganza" by the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. The White House is working with the President's Council to promote physical activity and sports participation across the nation, and President Obama will issue a proclamation encouraging every American to get active and live a healthy lifestyle. There's no better time to start than during Physical Fitness and Sports Month!
Whats the goal of Physical Fitness and Sports Month?
Last September, the First Lady and I launched the Million PALA Challenge with the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. The goal is to motivate at least one million Americans to be more physically active and earn the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA). To achieve the PALA, all you have to do if you are an adult is be active for 30 minutes a day (60 minutes per day for kids) at least five days a week for six weeks. Once the six weeks are over, you can simply go to millionpalachallenge.org or submit a paper log to certify completion and receive the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.
Really, the program was created to get Americans of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to be active by doing what they love. And I love running. Someone else might fulfill the challenge through yoga or basketball or bike riding. But running is a great choice. It doesn't require a lot of training, equipment, or a gym membership, so it's an easy way to keep in shape.
Do you see running as a good prevention for childhood obesity?
Well, I think physical activities of all types are a critical way to prevent childhood obesity. Whether it's running, biking, swimming, and the list goes on...it doesn't really make much difference just as long as we're actively encouraging all children to get out there and show them that it's important and can be fun as well. But running is something that I now talk about to people and promote as an exercise option that people can do for a good part of their lives.
Residence: Washington, D.C?
I did! I used to do it as governor, and I actually was the chair of that race in Kansas a number of times. I also used to chair a 5-K Governor's Cup race in Topeka. I surprised people the first year by actually running it. No one had done that before. Probably my favorite race, the oddest race I might say, is always on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday in a little town in western Kansas. It was the Pancake Day Race, and there was a decades-old rivalry between this community and a town in England. The history was that, in order to save the town from a fire, a woman who had been cooking when she saw the flames ran to the church to ring the choir bell with a skillet in her hand. So it became the tradition that you have to run this race holding a skillet and flipping a pancake as you run, while dressed with an apron. It's often below 0°F, so it's kind of an interesting challenge.
Occupation: Health and Human Services Secretary?
Do you have to pick them to be able to run with you.
What's your favorite running memory or a race that you've done that you remember the best?
I haven't done all that many races. I'm inspired by people who run marathons, but I have never really wanted to run that distance. So I've done 10-Ks and 5-Ks over the years. But I don't run a lot of races because part of it for me is that running is a way to think about things and organize my brain. Somehow having this mass of people, it's often fun, but it's a whole different way to participate. So I do it more for the cause than for the run. I would say the Pancake Day Race is probably the most memorable race I've ever participated in.
Did you know that you came in second in your age group in last year's Race for the Cure 5-K?
Did I? I didn't know that! Well, I think that as you get older, you don't need to be fast, you just need to keep running because the category narrows dramatically in terms of participants.
