Josh about to pass his grandpa

Josh about to pass his grandpa
Here, at age three, Josh regularly runs a mile or two with me--and I have to work hard to keep up!

Friday, February 18, 2011

After 54 years, My 1st Week!

Hi, Friends, Runners, and Fellow Adventurers!

This is my FIRST WEEK here, so please be patient while I figure this out!   As a long-time ultrarunner, I have come to think patience is one of humankind's greatest potential strengths, but it is terribly neglected in this era of ever-greater speed and rushing in all things.

For the moment, let me just say I have been a competitive long-distance runner for 54 consecutive years and counting, and I love it as much now as I did in my first year of high-school cross-country back in 1956. 

I have also come to believe that for early humans, thousands of years ago, long-distance running (as nomadic hunters) played a key role in our evolution and in the development of our unique capacities to endure, envision, and plan.  I explore these themes in more depth on my website, willhumansendure.com.  Here, I will just share some of the day-to-day insights I've had about the ways in which I now think that running profoundly affects our abilities to contribute to our communities as active, healthy, and responsible individuals. 

In the photo, I'm nearing the 15-mile point (on the Appalachian Trail) of the JFK 50 Mile (largest ultra in the U.S.) last November.  I had just taken a bad face--plant on the rocks, but recovered enough to keep going.  I finished 3rd of 71 guys in the age 60-69 division.  Next year I'll be 70!



2 comments:

Paige said...

Welcome to Blogger, Ed!! Congratulations on your 54 years; that is beyond impressive.

TrailRunner said...

amazing and so inspiring to me!!!
Thank you for posting this!