Running for My Life

 

One of the things I was most looking forward to after this past weekend's Wine and Dine Half Marathon, aside from the wining and dining, was the above video, shared with me by fellow runner (who I ran with for the first time this race!) Megan Johnston. It brings about what is, to me, the most hilarious and significant souvenirs of long distance run- the post race walk.

While my fellow runners wore their medals around the park the following day, I wore this button to show my preferred badge of honor:

"13.1: You can tell by my walk."

And finally, I saw this image this evening. 

It reminded me about why many choose to run. It's not just a means to go to Disney and justify heavy eating, or a way to stay in shape and healthy, or even a means to clear the head when the rest of the world serves mainly to fill it up. It's all of those things, but also a way to return us to something simpler. When you run, really run, to the point of pain, it brings you back to the most basic reason to run: survival. Whether you ran to escape capture, or ran to hunt for sustenance, running keeps us alive. And while I sometimes hate "walking like ET" the day after the race, it proves that I'm alive. After 3 miles, or 5 miles, or this past 13.1 miles, I'm alive.

If you're gonna live, best to do it with friends :)