The rise of jogging! Millennials are taking to this unusual sport after feeling ‘bored’ with regular running

As millennials become increasingly concerned about their health and well-being, they are now broadening their horizons to take up a new sport: ‘jogging’.

The sport includes jogging and juggling, and this sport is growing all over the world.

The rules are simple: joggers must run while maintaining a juggling pattern. If a joggler is participating in a race and drops one of his balls or beanbags, he must return to the spot where he dropped it, and only then can he continue.

Despite it sounding bizarre, the sport is gaining interest and fans can even attend the World Jogging Championships, including three-, four- and five-ball races, in person or virtually in Wisconsin.

In Britain, the sport has also become popular in local communities, with millennial fans setting up jogging clubs and social media pages to share their progress.

Michal Kapral, from Canada, currently holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon time while jogging – two hours and 50 minutes.

His current personal best in the 500 meter jog with five balls and without a single drop is just over two minutes.

In 2015, Michal jogged in the New York City Marathon. However, organizers later banned jogglers from the race, citing that the balls or bean bags were banned.

Michal told the newspaper at the time New York Times: ‘I understand that there should be safety rules, but this seems to cross a line where it becomes intrusive, and perhaps less about real safety than about rules that ultimately stop us from having fun.’

He added: “But what I’m really disappointed about is the children. They love to see me jogging.”

Since then, Michal continues his favorite pastime elsewhere and shares his experiences online.

His rapid exploits have raised awareness of the sport, and now communities across the UK have taken up the competitive activity.

Scott Jenkins, 27, who lives in Edinburgh, is one such fan of the sport and has set up a local Facebook group where fans of the sport keep each other updated on their personal bests.

The data scientist started jogging in 2018 because he was “bored” with jogging and needed a new activity to boost motivation, according to the BBC.

Scott took his love for the sport to the next step and created a website where joggers can show off their personal bests. It has attracted an impressive 600 joggers in 26 different countries.

Sam told FEMAIL: ‘Running and juggling were my two separate hobbies, and I didn’t have enough time to do both. Jogging was my new challenge, I think I saw it online and gave it a try.

‘The term ‘joggling’ was coined in the late 1970s by the American Bill Giduz and is therefore not new. But I think most people might not have seen it before.

‘It’s easier than it seems. If you can juggle at all you have an advantage, but I expect most people who are physically fit can pick it up within a few months with ten minutes of practice a day.’

In May he plans to run the Edinburgh Marathon while jogging with his friend James McDiarmid, 35, from Inverness.

James is familiar with juggling and has worked in the circus for twelve years, according to the BBC.

Now a teaching assistant, the 35-year-old says he feels strange running without juggling, despite the confused looks from strangers and the extra 30 minutes added to his running time.

Elsewhere, social media users have shared their experiences of the sport online. Dave Tester, from London, shared a clip TikTok of a man he saw jogging while enjoying a New Year’s walk.

He looked in disbelief as he watched the man run past while jogging at the same time. Dave wrote: ‘Happy New Year to this man who is jogging and juggling, and only to him.’

Savannah, from Wisconsin, also took the stage to perform a clamp of her partner Sam showing off his impressive jogging skills.

He jogged 22 miles with just six drops and averaged seven minutes per mile. Savannah claimed that juggling has increased her partner’s focus on jogging.

The clip caused a storm online and was viewed more than 30,000 times. Viewers took to the comments section to share their thoughts on Sam’s jogging skills. One said: ‘Jogging is unreal.’ Another agreed, adding: “The jogging is unreal.”

A third wrote: ‘I can’t jog or juggle, this is insane.’ “He makes it look so easy,” said another.

Another said: ‘This is underestimating how impressive this is.’

A sixth added: ‘I could exercise every day of my life and I still wouldn’t be able to jog.’