Many people ask me why I run, or if I’m crazy or something, and others just tell me straight off the bat that I’m crazy. Truth is, sometimes I find myself thinking over these questions, and I say “I don’t have to do this,” but I always find a reason to keep going. I could say it was my brother’s fault because he took me out to run first, or because I want to be healthy, but that is just, well, lame. I run because I love running, I run because there is nothing else like it in the world. I run because it is an art that you keep perfecting, and like Pre said, “You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.” Some people run to be the best. Some because they are forced to. Others to keep in shape. Others to take off fat. Some people don’t even think that it is a sport. But one thing is for sure, and I’ll let Pre keep talking: "Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints.  I like to make something beautiful when I run.  I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before".  It's more than just a race, it's a style.  It's doing something better than anyone else, it’s being creative."
But, as with everything, there is a downside. You know, Adam Goucher, a NCAA cross country champion once said “For something to hurt that bad, and feel so good, it’s just inexplicable.” And I’ll admit it, running hurts. More often than not, you can lose.  And yes, you will lose. It will hurt, it will make you mad, but that anger just comes back at you and makes you want to go back and beat that dude, and when you do, you will become so happy.
Even when something seems impossible, running reminds to keep on going, and it reminds me of Job 28:3, which says “To the farthest limit he searches out…” and it in turn reminds me about what Pre said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” Sometimes it isn’t fun, especially when you lose. Other times you might become discouraged, and you will not want to run. Sometimes I even find myself thinking about stopping once and for all. But it is when it hurts more, when you feel the worst, that you find it within yourself to keep going. You always keep running, it is will power, when you can’t but your mind can. Rudyard Kipling puts it this way in his poem titled “If”: “If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"” You have to dig deep within yourself, digging up places that you didn’t even know that were there, or like Saucony said in a commercial to “dig, like, China deep,” and when you are at the last straightaway, and your competitor is a split second behind you, and sprinting until your arms and legs fell like you’re in jell-o, that will power to keep on going brings the victory, which is the part that feels good, the rush of victory in your veins, the sense of accomplishment. Emil Zatopek said "When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem."
When I run, I feel like Roger Bannister, the first human to break four minutes for a mile. He said after his feat, “I felt at that moment that it was my chance to do one thing supremely well.”  Sometimes it feels like I could do anything, and when I run, I feel invincible. Like John Landy once said, “the harder the run, the better.”
 Running is something that will help you in your whole life. I like what Josh Cox said, “In running, there is no off-season, because running isn’t just a sport, it’s a lifestyle.” When you lose, you will learn how to cope with physical loss. When you win, you learn how to be a good sport in life. You learn discipline, and you learn how to finish what you start. You learn to set goals, and you learn that you won’t get everything you wanted and I know first hand that injuries, both physical and otherwise, can stop you dead in your tracks.
I run, because, well I just have to, I can’t live without it, and I will not imagine a world without running. Everybody runs once in a while, and I do it all the time. I love running, and if you don’t, I’m sorry. I guess I’m psycho, quoting some of my friends.
Sometimes I feel like I am crazy, but then I think about Percy Cerutty, and he said “To be great, one does not have to be mad (crazy), but definitely it helps.” Even if it didn’t help, I’ll abide in what my brother said, “I don’t know why I run, I might be crazy, but I love being crazy.”  
I run to give myself something to look forward to, like beating that one person who beat me the other day, I run because I like to be crazy, I run to give myself something to do when I need to think, I run to get the runner’s high, something only runners experience. I run to hit the wall, something that only runners experience, I run to get more PR’s, and like Andrew Welch, “I run to represent, I run to lead, I run for pride.”
It is not easy to explain why I run, you might not have understood one word of what I just said, but that is because running is something that takes spirit. Jeff Johnson, a spokesperson for Nike, puts it this way: “I think that is because running is a passion of the spirit. And explaining the spirit is never easy.Running is the expressway to self-confidence, self awareness, self-discipline and self-reliance. From running, you learn the harsh realities of your physical and mental limitations... From running, you gain strategies for extending those limitations, that you might run farther, run faster, and run tougher. You learn that personal responsibility... commitment...sacrifice...determination... and persistence are the only means of improvement.Running, you come to understand, is a profound, far-reaching and never ending contest of the runner with himself... or herself.
And you learn that runners only get promoted through self-conquest. Running asks a question of you, and everyday it’s the same question: “Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?” And when you answer that question in the way that you people in this room have answered it, you become a better... stronger... more confident animal... with a capacity for achievement greater than before, and a formula for success that is forever engraved on your brain.”
As you can see, he said the word “animal” there. I don’t know why I run under the rain, or at 99 degree summer day, or a 29 degree January morning, or under flurries, or when the wind threatens to blow down whole blocks, or at ten at night, and even in front of everyone in the highway or by myself in the back roads, or why I even tie my shoes when everyone else is watching TV. Adidas put out a commercial on a magazine, and it said: “When exhaustion gets tired. When agony doubles over in pain. When defeat waves a white flag. I will still be out here. Running.”
 Rudyard Kipling once again comes to the rescue:
“Body and spirit I surrendered whole To harsh instructors And received a soul.”
Running strengthens me, and in my walk as a christian it gives me a headstart. Paul said to run to get the prize, which is in Jesus Christ, our savior. I know what it is to battle everything in order to get that one first place, and in life it translates to battling temptation.
Jeff Johnson continues in this way:
“But you can be a runner without being a racer. So here’s another question for you: Why do you compete? Why do you race 3.1 miles (which is what cross country is)? That’s gotta hurt. Why do you do it? For most of you... I imagine that you race for the challenge... the danger... the rush of putting yourself in a place where you must do your absolute best... ... Because the race requires it. To give your best is to honor your fellow competitors... your teammates... your coach... your school... your family... your community... and all the good people who have worked so hard to put on the race. To give your best in a race is a matter of honor... and duty... and you know that going in. You know, also, that the course will challenge you... that your competitors will challenge you... and that your will challenge yourself. You know, too, that there will come a critical moment in the race where you must make the decision to lay it on the line... to take your shot... or to fall back and regroup.”
Billy Joel wrote: “I won’t hold back anything; and I’ll walk away a fool, or a king.” I give everything when I run, and it all comes down to two white lines, one at the start, and  another one a good sweat ahead. Between those two lines there is something that tells me to do my best, and there is no middle ground, I either win or I lose. Maybe that is what inspires me to run, to be able to be in the conspiracy of competition (the word competition comes from two Latin words which mean to “strive together”). And that conspiracy pushes me to the limit, and it is something that words can’t express to win, or even beat your own PR (personal record). Running really isn’t about your conspirators and yourself, but between the strong you and the weak you. It’s beating myself.
I don’t know if I made any sense, but I guess it comes with being a runner. I can’t explain how or why I love this sport. A man once told Mozart to teach him to write a symphony. Mozart said he couldn’t. The man, bewildered, pointed out that he had be writing symphonies since he was four, to which Mozart responded that he didn’t have to ask how. It’s the same with running. I can’t explain how or why, I just do it. Luckily, you don’t have to be a genius (or even have a six pack and all—I didn’t for most of the time I ran) to be a runner, so you’re not going to walk away frustrated when you ask me to let you in my passion. The only thing you have to do is tie your shoes, stretch, and move your legs. You don’t need special equipment like helmets or shin guards, the only thing you need is will power.
Running also helps you in the way the restart button helps an overloaded computer. You need to snap out of something, any bad situation, and a good seven miler will do the trick, or if you run with someone, two miles will suffice.
Anthony Famiglietti helps me out with what he said when he was asked why he ran:
“I don’t know why I run, but when I do, I’ll run like hell.” I don’t know why I run, I don’t know if you understood this, but all I know is that I understand and it only takes one run for you to understand. Shakespeare says just what I have set out to do, be great, and he said,  “Now bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.”