Happy National Running Day

I RUN . . .

Wow, that is a hard one. First of all, it's not really a question, it is more like the Preamble before your own Constitution as a runner. It is a noun and verb, and there are so many ways to complete the sentence, subject and predicate. Today is National #RunningDay, and I claimed my badge at runningday.org by following the noun and verb as follows:



I needed one more character space to submit my original answer, which was: To Live Long For My Family. On Dec. 1, 2006, the year I lost my Dad, I traded a box of KOOLS for a box of ASICS and turned to running instead. My goal was to run a marathon within one year, and I ran that 2007 New York City Marathon for my Dad and for my three sons. I ran because I wanted to live long.

Now it is National Running Day in 2012 and I am starting my training for another New York City Marathon. It will be my 10th marathon or ultra. Nothing has changed. Along the way I met my future wife Lisa and proposed to her at the finish line of the 2009 New Jersey Marathon. I RUN for my family, to be healthy and there for them for many decades to come, the best I can do.

It is why I keep putting one running shoe in front of the other on some of the toughest miles during my training runs or races, why I count backwards from 100 when I am running up Cat Hill at Central Park, why I share this passion and commitment with so many other runners.

I RUN to live long and free, to always have a purpose and get the most of every day of life, my own person, going places and discovering and appreciating, forever. And to get lots more medals.