Facebook founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg shared one of his goals for 2016 via a Facebook post on Jan. 4. The new dad aims to run 365 miles in 2016. He even made a Facebook group called "A Year of Running."
Zuckerberg posted the personal fitness challenge in the late evening and encouraged everyone to join him. Anyone who wishes to participate in the challenge can join the public Facebook page that he created. 365 miles may seem pretty crazy, but with 365 days in a year, it won't seem as crazy when you take it one mile a day.
"This is a lot of running, but it's not a crazy amount. It's a mile a day, and at a moderate pace it's less than 10 minutes of running per day," Zuckerberg said in the post. Of course, the math varies from person to person. What he calls "less than 10 minutes of running per day" could take a slow runner 30 minutes, but it's still not too crazy. You can even take a day off since 2016 is a leap year.
"A Year of Running" is the latest in the series of Zuckerberg's goals for 2016 which includes learning how to speak Mandarin and reading two books per month.
Less Facebook + More Running?
Running and Facebook don't really have much to do with each other unless you have one of those friends who just seem to keep finishing marathons. That said, Mark Zuckerberg's "A Year of Running" might just be a little more beneficial than you think.
Browsing Facebook may lead to depression
Believe it or not, the innocent habit of browsing through your friends' baby's photos or their recent trips might just have some negative psychological effects. Sure, social media has simplified our lives, making communication and accomplishing tasks more efficient. Nevertheless, studies have been shown just how harmful social media can be.
Various researchers have found how habitually logging onto your social media account and checking into your friends' statuses can affect how you see yourself and can even be linked to symptoms of depression. It seems pretty innocent — Facebook usage is even used by some to destress after (or even during) a long work day. However, various studies have shown that the opposite could be happening, with Facebook giving its users a distorted view of society and of themselves.
Running can improve your mood
On the other hand, running or any other form of exercise may even seem like a chore. It's tiring and it's time-consuming and one would rather lounge on the couch watching TV shows. But I'm sure we're not the first to tell you how important exercise is, and now we'll tell you how "A Year of Running" can be the perfect way to make 2016 a better year.
Running is obviously one of the most popular ways of getting in shape, but beyond its more popular benefits of weight loss and general health improvement, it can eliminate your stress, boost your confidence and even eliminate depression. Elle Woods wasn't lying when she said "exercise give you endorphins and endorphins make you happy" because even something as simple as running for 10 minutes can improve your physical and mental health.
Zuckerberg's challenge is interesting
Zuckerberg may appear to be encouraging people to log off their social media accounts and do something for their own well-being. In truth, the challenge itself is another opportunity to make use of their Facebook accounts more because users who take up the challenge would most likely be posting photos of themselves. Our guess is that, in less than a month, the number of people who take up the challenge would already be cut in half and only a small fraction would actually be able to complete the goal.
Well, at least Zuckerberg is trying to set a good example for his daughter.
