My Country of Running appears on no map, nor holds to any written constitution. Yet her citizens are many and there is room enough aplenty for any who seek entry in her domain.

It’s an ages old union that gathers no moss, nor anoints any member as sovereign. Yet leaders still emerge, as the packs begin to surge, ‘till candidates are all who remain.

We speak the language of pace in the time that it takes to turn start lines to finishes through effort. And though its dominion is spacious and redoubt capacious, her standards remain admirably high.

And while gravity bestows the force to oppose as exertions are mounted in earnest, it’s not only the swift, or those with the gift, who gain most by their citizenship status.

It’s for all who take part, who, with sinew and heart, express allegiance to the cause it embodies. Thus, we cover the globe as we constantly probe the limits of human performance. 

But we also take heed of those who don’t need competition to find common ground between us. As sport is not alone among the causes that are known for folks pledging allegiance to this movement. 

Because in the midst of its throes, as far as that goes, we discover in both meaning and purpose what’s best in our world as the miles unfurl with one step just following upon another, as the benefits of this affinity often manifest in tranquility as stillness is what’s discovered while at speed.

And though a seeming contradiction, it’s an affirming addiction, one we’d never reject or eschew. For in this union of motion we come upon the notion that it’s together how best to cut through, what separates and impedes the peoples and creeds that we look upon as different from our own. Who are in fact much the same, only differing in name, thus binding us more tightly than we knew. 

And while endocannabanoids don’t last, there’s no doubt that they cast a spell that impels daily dosing. Where in the doing alone we find the means to atone for the deficiencies we struggle to surmount while at rest. Until one stride at a time, the Tao turns sublime, revealing running as both dominion and quest. 

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

END