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Dave Griffin On Running
The Carroll County Times – Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Baltimore Running Festival is growing. The event, held earlier this month, features a marathon, a marathon relay, a half marathon, and a 5,000 meter race. This year, more than twenty thousand runners participated. They came from forty-four countries and all fifty states to run, and I can hear the collective question coming from the minds of all the non-runners who read this – why?
It is a reasonable question. If you include both the male and female divisions of the races, there were only eight champions. Count the other runners who had enough talent and preparation to potentially win, and you could include no more than a hundred runners the most elite category. So, the thrill of victory can’t be the primary motivator.
Running is hard. It involves discomfort. In order to complete one of the races, participants had to train for many miles, something the average person might not consider appealing.
Afterwards, the runners had little to show for their effort, except for a commemorative shirt and a participant’s medal. You really can’t say that either of those things enhances a person’s life.
A yet, they came on their own initiative, without coercion. They spent their own dollars on registration fees and travel. They used public bathrooms and port-a-pots that were not pleasant. They endured the anxiety of waiting and pressed into the crowed starting areas. And, then they ran the race. Why?
If you asked them directly you would get a wide variety of responses. You would talk to doctors, lawyers, teachers and soldiers. You would hear from some who were retired and others who were unemployed. And, in the diversity of the stories you were find a common theme; something was missing from each life before running entered into it.
Understanding that leads me to a more important question. We lead lives of abundance. We have conveniences that our parents never dreamed about. There are programs and initiatives designed to provide for the basic needs of every individual, and yet there seems to be more discontent now than ever before. Why?
I’m certain that heated debate could stem from our attempt to find an answer, but since I’m a simple man, my thinking tends to be simple as well. You won’t find anything profound in my conclusion, but here it is anyway.
The answer to both questions is the same. More food, bigger homes and better gadgets only touch the surface, and one basic human need runs deeper. We need to be fulfilled.
Perhaps you’ve been wondering yourself – how is it that life can be so full and so empty as well? It’s because fulfillment isn’t found in things, but in knowing that we can accomplish something significant on our own initiative. And, on the streets of Baltimore, twenty thousand people did just that.
Of course, you don’t have to be a runner to find fulfillment, but you do need something similar. And, if you’re not sure what that is for you personally, it might be time to start searching.
Dave Griffin
Dave Griffin is the Times’ running writer. His column appears every other Sunday. Reach him at dpgflyingfeet@aol.com or join the Facebook group, Dave Griffin On Running.