Flying Pig Marathon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Flying Pig Marathon is just 2 weeks away!! I want to share a poem that I received when I was just a sophomore in high school. A teammate  gave it to me right before I ran the state Cross Country meet at the Kentucky Horse Park.  Over 20 years later, it still sums up all the reasons I run.  If you are a runner, you will relate.  If you aren’t, well, now you might “get it”.  No matter, I hope this inspires everyone to run, or at least, get out and cheer the runners on.

Why do I run?

Those who don’t can’t understand.

The pain is real every day

Is it easier now?  Not really – - -

The same pain I felt the first day  I began.

Only easier to cover greater distances in shorter periods of time.

The pain is the same, and I understand  it always will be.

I dread it, and in a sense I crave it.

Why do I run?

To stay in shape, to keep my health,

To feel better- – - all partial reasons;   I suppose.

The real reason is confirmation – - -confirmation

that I am in control.

Every day I must make a choice – - – a choice

to experience pain and discomfort in order

to achieve a higher goal or to give in to

the body’s urging to do something else more

comfortable and pleasurable.

Who is in control? My body or me?

Every time I run, I verify to me that

I am in control and that I can be the

master if my own destiny.

That  is ultimately why I run.

I feel guilty when I don’t run – - -

when the body wins

Running is a test of my strength

not just my physical – - -but my mental.

Running is a challenge of my “will” – -

of mind over matter, of me

against myself.

Running is mental conditioning as well

as physical.

It’s therapy of the “will” for me.

Each run is success – - the richest and

most deeply satisfying.

Strangely but unmistakenly tied to self – discipline,

self- denial and self- control.

In a world where I often feel helpless,

victimized and controlled, running

helps revive feelings of hope, strength,

and conviction that

I can make a difference

and

I can be responsible for me.

An addiction of choice, you say.

and you’re right — there’s a danger.

So long as I “choose,”  the value remains

true and real;

So long as I control running and not

running — me.

Positive addiction or not, the value

is in choosing.

When the choice is gone, I become

controlled and victimized again,

One more thing in life that tells me

I am not in control, that

I am simply a pawn of fate and circumstance.

I must run as a choice, not out of necessity

or its real value again is gone for me.

Why do I run?

Run for success, success in the

ultimate contest.

The contest of me against myself.