# 1   PEOPLE WILL GIVE MONEY TO SUPPORT A CHARITY YOU LOVE

In my case, that would be Ecodana and a grassroots Agarwood plantation in Borneo.  Hint HInt.

Somewhere along the way, a tradition developed that allows endurance athletes to solicit  donations for worthy causes under the umbrella of their upcoming race.  I like it.   Not sure that I really understand why it is so (anyone know the story? I’m curious…..), but it’s a beautiful thang.  How cool is it that I can run to raise money for a cause that I really care a bout?  Very cool.

# 2  CURE for the RECESSION BLUES!!

Whatever you call it, there is an indescribably delicious sense of ease that starts charging through your veins after the third mile.  NPR claimed last week that anxiety is the number one disorder plaguing the planet and that the USA has the greatest per capita number of sufferers.  Any wonder for the growing popularity of this cure all sport?  Running is a perfect antidote to your recession blues.

# 3  EATING…..

I started off running as a faster way to loose weight and then at some point, it shifted and I started loosing weight to be a better runner, but either way, no matter which way you slice it, after running 20 miles, it’s OK to have that piece of chocolate cake if you want.  🙂 Really.

# 4  WHATS A LITTLE RAIN?

After running sixteen miles in the rain and wind and hail and cold, when the time comes to head out the door to go to work and it is raining, (not again)~ hey, no big deal.  Normal people get all cranky and whiny about the terrible weather but runners feel pampered to have an umbrella and just the short trip from your house to the nearby Muni.

# 5  NEW PERSPECTIVE ON SUMMER FOG!

I grew up in a land where summer meant warm fragrant nights with fireflies buzzing, cute little summer dresses with small cherries in patterns, corn on the cob sweet with butter, watermelon, peaches, strawberry rhubarb pie, (sigh) steak grilled on the BBQ and long swims in the lake.  Oh my!  For years, San Francisco summers were just plain sad.  But running has helped to understand that while everyone else in the country is sweltering, throwing fluorocarbons into the atmosphere, here we are in our lovely San Francisco with our natural fog air conditioning. So there!

# 6  AGE GRACEFULLY

Running keeps you in touch with your age.  Yes, running keeps you fit and feeling fantastic and looking pretty good for your age considering, still, there is no escaping the fact that your body is aging.  The Boston Qualifying Times just keep getting longer.  Why?  Because as you age, it gets harder to be as fast and that’s life, buster.  In a culture that praises youth and an plethora of industries to help you evade it, running pulls off the blinders.  Ouch!

# 7 START NOW, BABY STEPS

Running teaches me in the most concrete and simple, yet physical way that if I make a schedule of small steps, and follow them day by day, week by week, I can get there.  But if I don’t keep up with them, then I won’t.  That simple.  This can be applied to many things, my friend, many many things.

# 8   IT’S BETTER WITH FRIENDS

Running is an amazingly friendly sport because it is a lot more fun when there are others to go that extra mile with you.  If you show up, you’ll make friends.  It’s like a bank account only not for money.

# 9  THE CITY IS YOURS

As a runner, you cross your city back and forth and around and over, and up and down again and again looking for miles. In San Francisco, I run from the Bay to the Ocean, to downtown to the outskirts, from Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge, up over this hill and that hill, and through the Presidio and down the Embarcadero.  It is a great way to understand where you live and never get lost again.  OK, maybe not never but at least, I can dream.

#10   ENDORPHINS AGAIN

I can’t get enough of them.

Did I mention endorphins?

 

 

Number 10