Yes you are.
No, really, you are.
It's very easy to feel that way when you see other runners. Maybe they're going faster than you. Maybe they've got better kit. Maybe they don't look as close to keeling over as you feel.
But it's a cop out to tell yourself that. It gives you excuses.
I skipped my run this morning but that's OK because I'm not a proper runner.
I was supposed to run 10km this morning but I was busy so I only did 3 but that's OK because I'm not a proper runner.
I was definitely going to get back to running this week but then I ended up spending every evening in a cheese and wine coma. That's OK because I'm not a proper runner.
Don't do that to yourself, you deserve better than that.
Ask yourself this - when will you be a proper runner? If there are proper runners and non-proper runners then there must be a line to cross - the point at which you become a proper runner. Where is that point for you?
When you can run 10km? Or a half marathon? Or a marathon?
When you can run 10km in under an hour or a marathon in four?
When you change your running app to measure in miles instead of kilometres? That was a big one for me.
The first time somebody asks your advice..."You're a runner, what do I do about..."? That came as a real shock to me - talk about feeling like a fraud.
Maybe, just maybe, there isn't a line. Maybe there are no proper runners and non-proper runners, maybe there are just runners, all on a big sliding scale from "Help me please, I just ran for two minutes and I think my heart is going to explode." to "I just ran a marathon in 2:02:57*, if only I could break the two hour mark."
Maybe you're already a proper runner. The beauty of running being so accessible and inclusive is that, whilst there is always someone running faster and further than you, there is also somebody watching you roar off into the distance, wishing they were fast like you.
I can pretty much guarantee you that there are people who look at you and think:
I wish I was a 'proper' runner, like that person there.
* Dennis Kimetto's marathon world record, set in Berlin in 2014. That's a 4:42 minute mile for over 2 hours. Bonkers.