Sam Murphy

When we say we ‘love running’, is it truly the act of running – the process of putting one foot in front of the other– that we mean? Or is it the end goal that drives us? The shiny medal, the time on the clock? Perhaps it’s more about the opportunity it affords to connect and belong somewhere. Or maybe it is the need for a sense of accomplishment or release.

For most of us, there are myriad reasons. And, in normal times, that’s what keeps us going – you might not feel like doing speedwork, but you will anyway because you know you must if you want to crack that PB. You don’t mind running on your own on Tuesday because you’ll be chewing the fat with the gang on Sunday’s long run. But in these difficult far-from-normal times, running has become distilled to its very essence. It is just running, for its own sake, for better or worse.

Perhaps part of ‘acceptance’ is acknowledging this fact without judgment. On some runs, you’ll feel graceless and breathless and heavy –so be it. Other times, you will fly. Whichever run it is, pause along the way to marvel at your own spring landscape and think of me – and every other runner – doing the same thing.
-Sam Murphy

In troubling times, running is reduced to it's essence. In these uncertain, troubling times, running is the one constant.
By Sam Murphy