The Transformative Power of the Run

When people find out that I run, they often tell me that they could never do it. They say things like running is terrible or that it is too hard. For me, running is the easiest part of my life. We live in a world that doesn't make sense. When I run, I don't have to try to figure out how to navigate things I don't understand. I just put one foot in front of the other. I don't have to make sense of the wrongs of my world, I just go.

So many things in this world don't make sense. Running doesn't have to. Running just is. There are many tragedies we are faced with. I recall an incident in 2020 where a young local runner took his life. Two local teams responded to the tragedy by getting together to go for a run. So his team and the team's rival ran together to remember someone with a great passion for running.

We can run to mourn. We can run to celebrate. We can do both. And that was what those two teams did that day.

I went for my own run that day to think about what happened to that young man. At the end of the run, I didn't have the answers. I couldn't go to the family with an explanation as to what happened. I didn't solve the problem of teen suicide. And I may not ever understand what happened to that young man. But I ran. I ran to be present to the moment. And in the end, that is what matters.

Running doesn't solve the world's problems. It does, however, allow you to face the world's problems in the way that you need to face them. Do you need time away from the problem? Go for a run. Do you need to take out your anger on the problem? Go for a run. Do you need to process how to handle the problem? Go for a run.

Running allows us to just be. What do I need from this experience? Do I need to process the "why's" I face in my life? Or do I need to just be and not think about anything at all? Running always provides what you need at that moment. That is the transformative power of the run.