I watched this ESPN Outside the Lines report twice today. For some reason it is really captivating me. I find myself going through a lot of different emotions as I watch it. Part of me feels bad for the guy...and I don't know why. Part of me is highly impressed, maybe even jealous of him. This story is full of statements about persistence, community, and the human condition. I'd love to see your thoughts in the comment section.
12 comments:
really interesting...
at times it reminded me of prayer...both a discipline and a lifestyle and its ensuing corporate nature. i loved how people "came along side him" and in doing so "formed community", but more than that, it is also what hirsch and others have talked about, beyond community: communitas, a shared experience that bonds people together.
thanks for sharing joe!
wonder if he would have gotten the same attention if he ran more than 34 years and 100,000 miles...on a treadmill.
just sayin.
i would be impressed if he lived and ran in minneapolis...
Reminded me of the Movie "Forrest Gump" where he ran cross country to make a statement. Don't know what to make of it.
i was thinking the same thing about forrest gump...what's amazing to me is that this fellow has allowed an 8 mile run to define his life. i'll admit, running 100,000 miles is quite impressive but it isn't the only thing i want written on my tombstone when i die. actually to me its quite sad because while he has folks that run with him, he appears to be alone...
It is a interesting concept for someone to do the same thing for that long in a ever changing world. I guess the most important thing is that what he did was positive
As someone who has run regularly since 1969 — you can do the math — I of course found this fascinating. My take: he's not much different from most of us . . . a person trying to make his way through life in the best way he knows how, driven by myriad impulses that he himself can't even understand. We may think that he's given himself over to something mundane or ignoble, but the great faithfulness of the act itself (i.e., same time, same place, same distance, every day), the discipline involved, the tangible cost (i.e., the pain he has gone through), and the "other-worldly" nature of it (cuz it ain't sitting around watching multiple seasons of Lost) all produce something that is fundamentally intriguing and attractive to others. He's on to something. May we be on to something as well.
Dave -
actually thought of you when i saw this. btw, you're my only friend who can work the word ignoble into a review of an ESPN video about a hippie runner guy. His discipline is what drew me into the story. i was also hit with sadness though. maybe because it felt like he was running away his whole life and not toward something. i feel like the one day he can't do his run he might go crazy or drop dead. Maybe that's not a bad thing though...still conflicted.
I see how you could be jealous of the simplicity and freedom of his life, his community, his clear sense of what's important. I would love to achieve that clarity of direction and simplicity. cool video. Thanks for posting. D
Anyone watched "The Wrestler?" with Mickey Rourke. This video reminded me of that movie.
A man who defines his life (and worth) by the wrong stuff, and pays the penalty for it physically and relationally.
Whenever some thing we "do" becomes who we are, we're in trouble.
This was a great find, I feel this way in my little world. The struggle with the new, the familiar with the routine, the body getting weak and the joining together with friends. All have challenges and pit falls. Praise God He is always there even if I am not. Thanks again for the find.
Two words come to mind as I watched the video, lonely and empty. Then I wonder, does it just seem lonely and empty to me because I can not wrap my brain around how the focus of someone's life can center on getting up and running the SAME eight miles day after day, year after year.
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