Why Run?

Stu Mittleman:

"No other form of movement is as natural or as beneficial as running."

"Our physiology is exquisitely designed for running and walking ... To engage in this motion brings us one step closer to what we are."

Dr. George Sheehan:

"Through running I have learned what I can be and do."

"Through the body we can pursue our real and total self."

"The rewards of running are not merely physical. Training the body leads to training the mind and heart as well. The effort I expend in running is matched by the effort I devote to every other area. So running has narrowed the distinction between what I am and what I can be, between the actual self and the ideal self, between goal and reality."

"No one ever told us that the body determined our mental and spiritual energies. That with the new body we can put on the new person and build a new life, the life we were always designed to lead but lost with the body we enjoyed in our youth."

"Running has made this new me. Taken the raw material and honed it and delivered it back ready to do the work of a human being. I run so I do not lose the me I was yesterday and the me I might become tomorrow."

"The more I run, the more certain I am that I am heading for my real goal: to become the person I am."

"The running experience is more rewarding and constant with people's authentic selves ... Through becoming a runner one accomplishes a new type of being."

"Emotional and intellectual changes follow changes in the physical plane ... A transformation of the psyche does follow the transformation of the body."

"I run each day to preserve the self I attained the day before. And coupled with this is the desire to secure the self yet to be. There can be no let up. If I do not run I will eventually lose all I have gained-and my future with it."

"I know of no better way to find my genius and discover what I have to say than running with no companion except the rhythm of my breathing."

"Running is just such a monastery-a retreat, a place to commune with God and yourself, a place for psychological and spiritual renewal"

"There are times when I am not sure whether I am a runner who writes or a writer who runs. Mostly, it seems to me, the two are inseparable. I cannot write without running, and I am not sure I would run if I could not write. They are two different expressions of my self, as difficult to divide as my body and mind."

"The best writing is the truest writing. That truth must be sought deep inside. 'Look into your heart,' said the muse, 'and write.' When I write, then, the quest is to uncover what's in my heart, my inner universe."

"On the roads, I can see truth revealed whole, without thought or reason. There I experience the sudden understanding that comes unasked, unbidden. I simply rest, rest within myself, rest within the pure rhythm of my running. And I wait."