Achieve Your Goals by Learning to Run a Marathon at Bangor

Bangor University offers a unique course, Born to Run, that teaches students about behavioural psychology and human motivations.

Bangor University in Wales — part of the United Kingdom — offers a unique course to undergraduate students that's all about behavioural psychology and human motivations. The twist? Students in the course, called Born to Run: Achieve Your Goal, also learn how to run a marathon.

Fundamentally, Born to Run: Achieve Your Goal covers topics related to marathon preparation. In practice, the topics covered go beyond marathon running, and get at the heart of any endeavour that requires practice, planning, dedication, and resilience. Coincidentally — or not — these topics are essential to student success, too!

Topics covered in Born to Run: Achieve Your Goal

Students interested in Born to Run should be ready to, well, run! Before starting the course, you should be prepared to run 3-5 km. Unfortunately, this means the course isn't suitable for students with physical disabilities or ailments that restrict running ability.

Otherwise, here are some of the high-level topics students will cover in the course:

• Expectations and running — including personality type, motivation, performance anxiety, goal setting
• Nutrition and running — impact of good nutrition on motivation, mental well-being and self-belief
• Emotions and running — the 'wall,' fear, attributional theories of emotion and bodily sensation
• Cognition and running — self-talk, mental imagery, locus of control, distraction, mindfulness
• Behaviour and running — action-reflection cycle, flow, effort and reinforcement
• Resilience and mental toughness — including dealing with setbacks and failures

Learning outcomes for students in Born to Run

Students who take the Born to Run course at Bangor will learn about goal setting, motivational psychology, and the action-reflection cycle. Here are some of the main takeaways for students who complete the course:

• Understand principles of positive & motivational psychology
• Convey scientific info to a non-expert audience
• Apply theoretical knowledge to the real world
• Evaluate progress towards goals, accommodating setbacks and failures, while developing resilience
• Understand the influence of factors like nutrition, emotion, motivation, and effort when pursuing a goal
• Recognize the influence of factors like personality type and motivational ability when pursuing a goal
• Comprehend and analyze goal setting behaviour and training plans

Using the real-world, practical example of training for and completing a marathon, the Born to Run: Achieve Your Goal course explores goal-setting and motivation in all its forms.

Assessment

Students taking Born to Run: Achieve Your Goal at Bangor University are assessed through summative assignments — none of which looks at where you placed in your most recent marathon!

Instead, you'll write a handful of blog posts, graded every two weeks, with the goal of informing an everyday audience, while citing stats, linking to sources, and informing your readers.

You'll also compose a summative essay at the end of the course, reflecting on what works for you when setting a challenging goal. You'll pull together everything you've learned in the course to craft a compelling essay that can act as a "handbook for the future" — for those times when you could use a little friendly motivation.

Fundamentally, Born to Run: Achieve Your Goal is a course about pursuing challenging objectives, and learning from ourselves as we attempt and overcome them. Whether you finish a marathon in record time or not, you'll learn a lot about motivation and personal psychology.

Born to Run: Achieve Your Goal is an undergraduate course offered by the School of Psychology and Sport Science. Curious to learn more? Check out this article on the course from the Independent, or jump straight to Bangor University to apply!