Every Runner Has a Reason. What is Yours?

Navigational Art and Directions By Colleen Yorke, © 2015

Every runner has a story. Whatever reason got us into running, “something clicked”, and today... countless miles later, running is part of who we are. We run in 90 degree-heat, rain, snow, sleet, wind. We run through every season and at every time of the day. We run for beer and tacos. We run hills and mountains. We run through muddy obstacles and colored paint – just for fun. Running groups such as DTLARunning, Backlistla, The Republic, BomF, RunwithUs keep us on our toes and on schedule. 

Coming from different backgrounds and life experiences, we share the love of the run. The sport has infinitely scalable goals that can be set, adjusted, readjusted and pursued until achieved. With determination and dedication we go after our PR (personal record) to reset our limits. We get back on our feet, and we blow past lines we thought too far to reach. Running keeps us grounded, and it sets us free.

What is your reason?

Running For Gold

Navigational Art and Directions By Colleen Yorke, © 2017.

We could all use a hug from time to time. Caught in myths of the best and the brightest and the self-made, we constantly feel the pressure of beating our PR. We are the generation convinced that if we are good at something, it must be effortless. Admission of defeat or failure often is not an option. As we lean in, plug in, chip in - balancing many different roles in different settings - we find ourselves nearing the end of one very frayed rope. 

In our pursuits to "win", we often lose sight of what is important. Last Sunday a teenager collapsed and died minutes after finishing her first half marathon in Virginia. New York Daily News writes: "She fought the good fight". While running and finishing a race is an incredible gratifying experience, there is more to life than that. Society lionizes athletes, and it is not healthy.  To the Did-Not-Finishers (DN)F a race should not be seen as a failure, but as an admirable act of courage to start something daring. 

We all have setbacks and deal with disappointments at some point in our lives. We need to remind ourselves that failing something does not define who we are. We learn about ourselves, and we discover what we want from life. And if it does occasionally seem we barely escaped a fire, emerging from the wreckage with nothing, we are the architects of our own life. We can purposefully rebuild from the ground up (and with a much more solid foundation.)

Tomorrow is the International Day of Happiness. Give someone a hug!