I remember years ago I was training for the Dublin Marathon with a group of friends. We had been running together for a few years and were following an intermediate training plan that included hill running. Dublin (where I was living at the time) gave us lots of opportunities to include hills. Sometimes we would run out to Howth peninsula on the north coast of Dublin. Completing a loop of Howth would incorporate about 200 metres of climb. My mother in law also lives out there so it gave us the option to stop by for refreshment and a toilet stop. On this particular occasion, several of us were on a long hill run in the Dublin mountains, south of the city. We were on a steep hill and it was raining heavily and a good friend of mine threw a strop. She sat down and refused to go any further, eventually pulling out her secret stash of cash and getting a taxi home. It was so funny because she had never acted like that before. A few weeks later she found out she was pregnant. The laugh we had when she told me has yet to be matched.

The diaphragm is a muscle that separates our abdominal cavity from our chest cavity and is the only muscle in our body that is attached to other muscles. When we laugh, our diaphragm convulsively pulls on our side muscles and shakes up our stomach and other vital organs. The result is we get an internal massage, which leaves our organs invigorated, pumped-up and alert.

While negative stress is both mentally and physically draining and can manifest as physical illness if not identified and managed. Laughter can help manage stress similar to how physical exercise does. Laughter is both a pulmonary and cardiovascular workout in that it makes the heart and lungs work faster, which in turn pumps oxygenated blood to your cells faster, this stimulates your brain to make you more resilient to stressors.

My eldest sister Grace (she’s ‘one’ of eight, I’m ‘five’ of eight) lives in Düsseldorf and I have run the marathon there on a number of occasions. It’s always a great weekend of laughter and running. The race takes place in April and it was a beautiful crisp morning on race day in 2016. We left the house with a spring in our step. On the tram heading into Düsseldorf, no one spoke. There was nothing to say. I had a training partner and good friend Emma (my running wife) by my side. We had trained well and it had all gone to plan. I ate well, slept well, trained hard, and avoided injury. For the first time, I ran four times per week and didn’t skip runs.

There is a feeling before a race that’s a mixture of nerves, fear, and vulnerability. That day, there was also a bit of something else. I think it was confidence. The previous year in the Düsseldorf marathon, I missed a sub 4-hour finish by 7 seconds. I had a bit of an edge on me this time around. The day came, and I found myself standing by the Rhine at the starting line. I felt nervous as usual, but ready*. Music was playing, and Emma and I started to dance. We must have looked ridiculous. Fiona and Grace stood on and laughed. We all laughed. Fiona had just enough time to catch the last few seconds on camera. In the video you can clearly hear Grace laughing. Since 2016 Grace has been living with motor neurone disease. We can’t hear her laughter anymore and this video is such a precious reminder of that day.

Laughing while you’re working out may offer more benefits than you realise.

1. If you have a reason to be laughing, you’re probably having a good time and enjoying your workout more.

2. Some of the benefits of a laughter filled run are that you have an increased pain and fatigue threshold.

3. Laughter can raise your body’s endorphin levels which can make you less susceptible to the pain and fatigue of exercise.

Go on a run with a friend and tell each other a few jokes and you’re more likely to find the time passes effortlessly compared to when you’re running solo or you’re in a bad mood.

Don't let emotional tension build to the point of tears. Set a goal to be aware or mindful of how many times per day you laugh. Think of it as a vital exercise for your mind. Schedule time to practice laughter.

Humour can be improved and even learned. You can start by spending time with the right people and by not taking yourself so seriously. If you make a decision to bring more humour into your day, you can’t go far wrong.

* For anyone interested to know how the Düsseldorf Marathon panned out, my finish time was 3.51.01, 9 minutes 6 seconds faster than my previous attempt. I was filled with such joy I thought I was going to explode. Four months, hundreds of miles, and a target I broke by 9 minutes! The discipline had paid off.