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Why I Run - Why I Run - Denis Bernicky

It will sound selfish because it is selfish: I run for me. I run because it removes me from my family and everyone else I know and take me into places where the only thing that matters is physical performance at the moment.

Yes I run for exercise and yes I run to maintain my weight but mostly I run to be alone. In my runs I have won the Olympic Marathon, I have run Badwater, I have done Pike’s Peak – all while never leaving my set group of out and backs near my home in Dorval. In my runs I have composed poems which get hastily scribbled down when I get home. I get to think about things in uninterrupted streams of thought: Thoughts that plumb the depths of what my mind is capable of and transient thoughts about roadside beauty.

In my own way I am a Zen runner. I run because I love to run and would run even if I never raced, but I love to race. I sincerely do not care how far back in the pack I cross the line so long as I cross the line. If I see you I will try to catch you no matter how ridiculous the idea is when rationally considered but I bear you no ill will and truly hope if I do pass you that you have it within you to pass me back. There are days when I would rather go to the dentist than go for a run. On those days I am more a runner because I go and more often than not find the flow that makes it feel good to be running. There are days when I cannot wait to hit the pavement and the run turns to agony early and hammers away at what little steel I have until I can think of nothing else but where is the turn around point. There are also those perfect days when from the first few steps it is all easy – the hills bow down – the wind relents and the temperature is just right. For all of those days I run but most of all I run for me.

Denis Bernicky