It's what runners do. We keep on keeping on

That's the beauty of starting lines: Until you begin a new venture, you never know what awaits you.

Everyone stumbles at one time or another. It's the human condition

I've never known a runner who had as much patience as he needed.

Winning has nothing to do with racing. Most days don't have races anyway. Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.

The true but rare runner's high is a zone that we enter when everything seems to click perfectly, when time stands still, and when we can run almost without effort.

I run because I enjoy it — not always, but most of the time. I run because I have always run — not trained, but run. What do I get? Joy and pain. Good health and injuries. Exhilaration and despair. A feeling of accomplishment and a feeling of waste. The sunrise and the sunset.