“I train in pain because I race in pain and if you can’t tolerate pain you may as well quit.” –Steve Scott

            Nothing means more to a runner than the Race itself. No job promotion, good grade, first kiss, high five, finding a dollar on the ground, or the smell of freshly baked cookies beats the Race. When one is within it, nothing in the outside World matters. There isn’t a care in the mind besides the track underneath the feet and heart pounding within the chest. The thought is captivated on winning, the glory of winning, and that losing would certainly suck. Every pain is illuminated, every fear is brought to life, and every distraction is menacing but the runner pushes the mind away and keeps on running; racing the opponents who dared to go through this trial with him and stretching the boundaries of the body to unforeseen limits in the attempt to break them all. Only one can win the Race and many will fail to arrive but with every failure is only a growth in the fire that burns within each runner because Human was made to win and a loss is only a lesson. We are all animals, nothing more than that and after the gun goes off from the corner of the track, the wild is let out and no bets placed or sure fire favorites are safe because at the first sign of suffering, the whites of the leaders eyes, every heart quickens as each runner realizes they have a shot at the glory. And this is more than a moment to shine in front of the people watching or the media standing by. The win comes with proving to the runner that the training is working, that the fight each and every day does have a meaning, and that the faith in every mile can remain the same. The win comes with pride for oneself but by the next day its back to the roads and the trails as the runner is once again slipping through air, thinking of only the steps underneath and the goal of that single day and always aware of the next Race looming a set amount of training miles down the calendar, just waiting to be owned by a single runner.

Nothing means more to a runner than the Race itself.
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