Why Run?

I am not a professional runner, nor am I an athlete by any stretch of my imagination. However each year I give myself a kick in the butt and head out for a couple of runs - the Hyd 10k and the SCMM Half Marathon. What's more - I don't have great records in either as yet :( My best for the 10k is the 1hr mark and the best for the half is 3hr mark. Inadvertently the most commonly asked question to me is why run? 

The only reason I do it is to see if I can. The sense of accomplishment on tasks that are seemingly beyond your reach is always greater than those that you know you can complete and excel at.

Then the other day when I bumped into Fauja Singh - the eldest marathon runner in the world @ 101yrs I was gobsmacked. If this guy can do it so can all of us. It need not be a marathon it can be anything you feel apprehensive about. One thing is for sure we aren't going to enjoy the health that Mr Fauja enjoys so let's do it for the joy of being alive today.

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.
-- Walter Bagehot

"Most people never get there. They're afraid or unwilling to demand enough of themselves and take the easy road, the path of least resistance. But struggling and suffering, as I now saw it, were the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not constantly demanding more from yourself—expanding and learning as you go—your choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip."

- Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of All Night Runner

big man running