Why?

I started this blog in 2019 when I was training for a 126-mile ultra marathon. It was an attempt to answer the question 'Why?' That question ('Why run?') hasn't completely gone away so I'm continuing to write things here as and when new answers come...

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4. I run because it helps me explore and appreciate the place I call home

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I'm not the most spatially aware of human beings. I don't have a good sense of direction and I'm not a great map reader. But over the past few years, running has helped me to become better acquainted with my surroundings in a way that feels deeply satisfying. It's helped me discover new parts of my neighbourhood, city and surrounding countryside. And as I've begun to run longer distances, it's also helped me to join up the dots between different places I know and love. Last Saturday was a great example. I'd arranged to go for a walk in the Peak District with friends, starting at Alport Bridge (pictured),  some 13 miles from Sheffield. So of course I decided to run there, and not by the most direct route. The route I chose  involved running out of Sheffield through the neighborhoods of Crookesmoor, Crosspool and Lodge Moor, gradually climbing all the way up to Redmires reservoir and then beyond it Stanage Pole. There I turned right and continued...
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6. I run because it feeds my soul

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Its been nine months since my last post and six months since my Great North Ultra . And I've not run a huge amount since then. Having now completed the big challenge for which I spent a significant amount of last year training, I've found myself feeling somewhat directionless with my running. After running 126 miles, what do you do next? This year, life's been full with other things and I've not felt able to prioritise another stupidly long running challenge. I've not particularly fancied racing over shorter distances either, because I'm now a lot slower than I was two years ago (one of downsides of concentrating on ultras). But I'm a goal-oriented person. And without a clear goal, I've been running a lot less.  I've even found myself wondering 'why bother with running at all?' The answer, or at least part of the answer, came to me earlier this week. I woke up early on Wednesday morning with a lot on my mind and somehow knew that I nee...
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7. I run because its an Easter thing

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Well, a lot has changed since my last post: COVID-19, social distancing and lockdown. These words have come to dominate our lives over recent weeks in ways unthinkable a few months ago. But alongside all this upheaval, some things have not changed. And for me one of the constants, I'm grateful to say, has been running. As lots of people before me have already pointed out, running seems to be a human impulse. As the title of one famous running book puts it, it seems we are 'Born to run'. But yesterday I spotted something about this that I'd not noticed before. I realised that running is part of the Easter story. In John's account of the resurrection, the first runner to be mentioned is Mary Magdalene. We're told that when she went to the tomb and saw that the stone has been removed from the entrance, she "came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple (John 20:2). And then Peter and the other disciple get in on the act and start running as well. ...
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