Harry Styles Says He Appreciates the Quiet Solitude of Running: 'A Conversation with Myself'

Cara Lynn ShultzTue, March 3, 2026 at 5:32 PM UTC

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Harry Styles shares his love of running in the latest issue of 'Runner's World'Credit: Laura Jane Coulson -

Harry Styles describes running as "a conversation with myself" in an interview with author and fellow marathoner Haruki Murakami for the newest issue of Runner’s World

The “Aperture” singer said he enjoys the discipline and self-integrity of marathon training

Styles, 32, says that he's not afraid of being recognized on his runs because you’re already gone” by the time someone might recognize him

Harry Styles is opening up about his love of running and how it gives him time to think amid his busy life.

“In some of those new experiences, there’s just so much stimulation, right? So many people, and it’s just so loud. So then running also became my processing place for all of that. Really being by myself,” the “Aperture” singer, 32, told fellow marathoner Haruki Murakami in a new interview for the Spring issue of Runner’s World.

Harry Styles shares his love of running in the Spring issue of 'Runner's World'Credit: Laura Jane Coulson

“The thing that I’ve found, in the rest of my life but particularly in running, is the idea of trusting myself to do exactly what I say I’m going to do. To say to myself, I know that you can do something difficult, and that you can get up and train when you don’t want to train, and that you’re able to push through hard things, Styles told Murakami, who wrote the 2007 memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

"Having that kind of self-integrity — no one can run a marathon for you. Whereas there are a lot of people who help me make music, put the music out, put on a show and make me look good at it! But running is a conversation with myself.”

Styles ran the 26.2-mile Berlin Marathon in September in 2:59:13, marking an average pace of 6:50 per mile — his personal best. He had previously finished the Tokyo Marathon in 3:24:07.

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When it comes to his pre-marathon prep, he says before every long run “I eat the biggest croissant I can find.” And while he usually hydrates on his runs, “I was really scared of peeing myself during the [Berlin] Marathon, so I fueled up in the morning with a lot of electrolytes and not too much actual water, then I drank lots during the race.”

Harry Styles for 'Runner's World'Credit: Laura Jane Coulson

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It was the Berlin nightlife scene that inspired his latest album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, having done some time on the dance floors in the city. It’s part of his efforts to truly experience the places he travels. While Styles has been touring the world since he was a teen, he shares that running enables him to really get to know the cities he visits: "You see things from ground level that you don’t see if you’re driving. There were so many areas of London that I had missed,” he said.

“During my early days in One Direction, we spent so much time inside hotels and venues that there are counties I’ve be to that I didn’t really experience. So when I travel now, it’s about committing to going outdoors to see some stuff, whether that’s running or walking. You experience places in a whole different way.”

However, he shared he’s not worried about getting mobbed by fans, explaining that running provides some level of anonymity to him. “The main thing is that you’re always moving. You can turn a corner wherever,” he says. “I think with people who see me, it’s a bit more ‘Was that…?’ rather than, ‘Oh look it’s him!’ And by that time, you’re already gone.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”