songs of experience

Every week or so I receive an on-line newsletter from our local (Carrboro, NC) Fleet Feet running store. I have a spam blocker/junk detector on my computer to immediately delete such bulk missives, but I decidedly mark the Fleet Feet news “Not Junk.” There’s always a gem to be found amongst the upcoming races and new shoe stock announcements. This week, a quote by spiritualist running guru (now deceased), George Sheehan, gave me pause. I also love the old-timey painting the FF owner, Bobby Biles, found. Was Norman Rockwell a runner?

Anyway, I was thinking about how corny/cheesy Old George used to seem to me. I remember meeting him once at a race in Mobile, Alabama. We were both killing time before the gun went off, me pretending to stretch … him actually doing it (because that’s what “old”people do, right?). He was talking about what a beautiful day it was for running and how much he enjoyed coming to races to meet new people, and how good the warmth of the sun felt, etc. “Uh, yeah, me too,” I said, but thought “I wonder if Lori Henes is going to show up.” There was a soft field and an easy $1,000.00 to be made.
We exchanged names and he seemed taken-aback when I didn’t know who he was. I guess he was pretty famous among the jogging set, but I was a racer. “Nope, never heard of you. Gotta go.” I had [important] strides to do before my race. I bolted away, feeling I had escaped some long-winded great uncle before he launched into yet another WWII story. I was young and fast and didn’t need his running philosphy.
Ahhh, the folly of youth! I see now that I was young and fast and foolish. Who doesn’t need to be reminded of the warmth of the sun, the beauty of the trees, the simplicity of the run ?!

I didn’t realize running was my “self-renewing compulsion;” until I was old and cheesy myself.

“There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.”
-George Sheehan