Running in Stockton Lives
Photo by Unsplash
A Love Letter to Mudville’s Mileage Maniacs
As the world begins to embrace distance running, with major marathons seeing massive increases in participation and global interest at a level higher than ever before, Stockton remains a city relatively harsh to runners. In communities around the world, people are taking to the roads, trails, and tracks in droves, but Stockton’s particular lack of public recreation spaces has resulted in a general stagnation in the growth of the world’s oldest sport in the Port City. The running community that does exist here, however, does so despite having the odds stacked against them. What you will find as a result is one of the purest groups of runners you will ever come across.
Getting yourself out the door to run is not an easy task in any city, but Stockton has a few extra elements that make the barrier to entry even higher. Good routes are few and far between, and soft dirt is even more of a rarity. Every runner knows where the nearest levee is. Stockton’s local pavement pounders are not afforded the luxury of public water fountains, and public restrooms are scarce, which can make things scary during the late stages of a run. In many other cities, you will see your fellow joggers while out on a run, but in Stockton you are almost more likely to be bitten by a stray dog than see another person running. You will rarely see people out running in groups in Stockton. The social aspect of running is such an inherent part of the sport, but you will not find it here.
What you will find, however, is that those who are out there running are doing so purely out of self-motivation and with unwavering consistency. It takes a special kind of person to get out the door and run lonely circles around the Stockton Dirt Racetrack on a hot afternoon, but that person exists here. The teenager you will see jogging in place at a March Lane stoplight, throwing jabs as he waits for the green, is out there purely out of love for what he does. The mom who glides along the Calaveras River path every morning like clockwork with a stick in her right hand, and the old man who shuffles around Victory Park with his hoodie tight over his head. Sheer determination. Stockton’s runners are a testament to the sport.
Amid the whirlwind of run clubs, influencers, and hyperexpensive running gear that characterizes the running scene today, the running community in Stockton is a breath of fresh air. A trip back in time to a pre-consumerist running world, a time when all you needed to get out the door was a pair of basketball shorts, cotton T-shirt, and your dirtiest pair of Reeboks. Stockton runners may be few and far between, but their existence is proof of their resilience. They brave the endless pavement and the unrelenting sun for the chance to make themselves better. Some are training for their next marathon, some for martial arts, and some may not even consider themselves runners. The thing that they all have in common, however, is that they are out on the street for no other purpose than to make themselves better.