Running Instead of a Bottle? How Jogging “Rebuilds” Life After Addiction

An open study by Canadian social workers was published in Sociology of Health & Illness: the authors literally ran with people who had survived addiction and talked to them during their runs. In a sample of 11 participants (Vancouver and the surrounding area), running became the “framework” of everyday life: it helped them return to the sensations of their own bodies, drew them into the community, and gradually displaced the place that substances had previously occupied. An important detail: the process is nonlinear, with jerks and “rollbacks,” and for many it has roots in childhood sports experiences, to which they returned as adults.

Background

• Why sport in rehabilitation for psychoactive substances. Over the past few years, reviews and meta-analyses have accumulated: physical activity (aerobics, walking/running, strength training) as an adjunct to standard therapy reduces cravings, anxiety/depression, and improves quality of life in people with substance use disorders (SUD). But most studies are conducted in clinics, with short protocols, and without understanding “how it works” in everyday life.
• What was missing before this work. We lacked field, long-term, “life” data on how exactly movement becomes part of everyday life after formal treatment, and what bodily/social mechanisms maintain changes. The authors close this gap with high-quality ethnography in movement.
• “Carnal sociology” as a framework. The study draws on Loïc Wacquant’s approach with his “six S’s”: the human being is symbolic, sentient, suffering, skilled, sedimented and situated. This allows us to analyze habitus — bodily-social habits — and how running “reflashes” them.
• Why “running together” is a method. “Running interviews” (mobile methods) capture not only words, but also the body-in-motion: breathing, fatigue, terrain, sounds, interaction with space. For addictions where the body is the central hub of experience (cravings, rewards, rituals), this method provides insights that are not visible in an office interview.
• The role of place and community. In the Canadian (Vancouver) context with its strong traditions of harm reduction and active participation of user communities (e.g. VANDU), place, routes and “insiders” are key to sustainable change: alternative rituals, roles and connections are formed, isolation and stigma are reduced.
• What this article adds. It shows how running “restructures” everyday life in 11 adults in remission: sleep/eating/training patterns, bodily sensations, the symbolism of equipment, belonging to a running community – and how “old” bodily skills (children's sports) “wake up” and support sobriety. This is not an RCT or a “universal recipe,” but a mechanistic picture of how movement can become a “replacement” for old rituals.
• Limits of applicability. The data are qualitative and sparse; they do not prove causality and require caution in generalizing to people without a running background or with limited access to safe running spaces. But as an element of “social recovery”—through connections, roles, and meanings—running appears promising and is consistent with clinical reviews of the benefits of activity in SUD.

What did they do?

• They used “carnal sociology”: the researcher ran alongside the participants along their usual routes and recorded not only their words, but also their body-in-motion — breathing, pulse, terrain, weather, sounds of the city/nature. This mobile method allowed us to catch what eludes us in office interviews.
• The theoretical framework is Loïc Wacquant's "six S's": skills (skilled), suffering/suffering (suffering), sensory experiences (sentient), embeddedness in place (situated), symbolic meanings (symbolic) and their layered accumulation with experience (sedimented). Through this lens, the authors traced how habitus - stable bodily-social habits - changes.

What was revealed

• Running as a life “organizer.” Participants reported that goals, routines, equipment rituals, and the distances themselves structured the day and restored a sense of control — as opposed to the chaos that accompanied use. Three circles gradually closed: body → running community → the “big” world around.
• Not from scratch and not right away. Many people started running out of motivation to lose weight or "to get in shape," and not everyone experienced withdrawal immediately — in the early stages, some were still using. But as the distances and involvement grew, the substance "receded."
• Community cures loneliness. Group training, help at starts, volunteering, conversations “about sneakers” - a gentle entry into new connections without the stigma of “former addict”. Over time, people took on the roles of leaders and mentors.
• Routes and places are important. “Running where I used to look for a fix” is a strong symbolic break: the same neighborhood, but a different role and a different rhythm of life.
• Roots in childhood. Often it was a return to “forgotten” body rhythms from school sports – as if the old running “habitus” “woke up” and helped to hold on.

Why is this important?

Most of the studies on "sports + rehabilitation" are done in clinics and on exercise machines. Here is life "after" treatment, in a natural environment. The result suggests a simple thesis: movement, goals, routes and people around can become a substitute for those "meanings and rituals" that substances used to provide, and thus support sustainable changes. This is not a pill, but a working infrastructure of everyday life.

How it “works” (mechanism – based on observations)

1. Body: sensory “reprogramming” – breathing, pulse, fatigue, “finishing high”.
2. Time: A sleep/eat/exercise routine creates rhythm instead of chaos.
3. Place: Favorite circles in the park/embankment anchor the habit.
4. Meanings: equipment, starting numbers, community rituals – a new identity (“I am a runner”).
5. Connections: Weak and strong social contacts are gradually replacing isolation.

What it doesn't mean

• This is not an RCT or a “one-size-fits-all” study. A small, high-quality study does not prove causation, and it is not for everyone—especially those who cannot safely access exercise or have health limitations. But it does provide a good indication of what a successful daily replacement might look like.
• At the start, past sports experience often helps - without it, entry may be more difficult; adaptation to the person and support from a specialist are needed.

Practice: How to “Integrate Running” into Recovery Programs

• Soft entry: the goal is regularity, not speed/length (10–20 minutes of walking/running 3 times a week is already a victory).
• Routes "with history": choose safe, bright, close to home/work; record "favorite circles".
• A community without stigma: beginner groups, paired runs; volunteer roles at starts as a “social lift”.
• Rituals and goals: diary, “first pair run”, “first parkrunner”, “first 5k”.
• Burnout insurance: periodization, recovery days, cross-training (walking, swimming), injury prevention.
• Synchronization with treatment: running is a supplement, not a replacement for pharmaco- and psychotherapy; the plan should be agreed upon with a doctor/therapist.

Source: Stephanie Bogue Kerr, Nicolas Moreau. Running and Stumbling to Recovery: A Carnal Sociological Study of Change in Substance Use, Sociology of Health & Illness, 2025. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.70052