There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.
When I run, truly run, I am certain of that. It is all there. My body does what it does best. The mind like a kaleidoscope constantly rearranges the things it has stored into new and exciting patterns. And my soul utterly loses itself in the present.
I had something in my life that was not work or boredom. I felt like my life had some structure and direction and all because a few times a week I’d put on some trainers and run around.
I always loved running…it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.
Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring.
In recent years I’ve come to realize that the more of the outdoors I get, the more I want. That alone-that growing appetite for being out in the world-is a debt to running that I can never repay.
Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think what it might be.
Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better.
Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running.
Every day is a good day when you run.