Why I Run: Eight Theses Toward a Theology of Running

1. Running is Christ-Strengthening: I have the sort of personality that loves—no thrives on—a good challenge. Running 13.1 miles, then 26.2 miles, then 31 (first 50k back in Sep) and 62 miles (first 100k last month), and now 88 miles. I absolutely love the challenge of running these long distances. Pushing through all the trials and pain of 62 miles has taught me that in and with Christ I truly can do just about anything I put my mind to. Over the last couple of races, Philippians 4:13 has come so alive. I clung to it as I set off on my longest run yet.

2. Running requires Continual Learning: Running is a constant experiment in figuring out how to improve, how to run longer, how to deal with pain, what went wrong, what changes need to be made for next run. On every race I’ve run, I’ve had to troubleshoot. My first 50k, for example, I was staying at an Airbnb and I got up at 4 am to drive to the race but found myself blocked in the driveway by two vehicles. I had to pound on the door of a complete stranger for about 15 minutes to wake them up and get them to move their cars. In hindsight, I’m grateful I was blocked in because I would have left my running gear behind if I hadn’t gone back into the Airbnb. Or today, for example, I forgot I hadn’t used my water bottle and spent the first five minutes of the very first lap trying to get the wrapper off only to pull the whole thing apart. I was eventually able to get it back together. The point is that I love learning which is not only key to running, but also vital to the Christian faith, for as Fr Florovsky tirelessly preached, Christ took on our full humanity, including the human mind. And so His redemption of humanity includes the redeeming of our minds. And again, in Florovsky’s words, “as disciples we are students and thus have a duty to learn.”

3. Running gives Focus and Creativity: I am easily distracted. Running is teaching me how to focus on one thing instead of a million. For me it has been a world of silence in the midst of a world of distractions and noise. That space for silence and focus has also frequently spurred creativity.

4. Running offers Communion with God: Running has catapulted my prayer life. Long runs give you hours alone…just me and God. And the trail runs provide those hours in nature, which for me has been yet another way of being in communion with God.

5. Running is a Form of Asceticism: Asceticism comes from two Greek words: 1) askoumai which denotes something a man practices aiming for a certain goal; and 2) askein which simply means to exercise. So Christian asceticism are those practices or exercises that submit the body to the soul thereby aiming toward the goal of holiness and theosis. Running has been a great practice at establishing discipline and teaching my body to submit to my mind and soul.

6. Running requires Perseverance and Suffering: If you run long distances, it’s going to be hard and you’re going to hurt. You can’t avoid the pain. And you will want to quit. About half way into the 88-mile run I concluded that a theology of running is really just a theology of suffering. When I was a young teenager my dad and I memorized the book of James. The thing that has stuck with me the most from that exercise is the opening verses of the book (vv. 2-4): “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” That’s a message that completely contradicts the American way of life. But I believe it to be true. We ought not expect to be comfortable. We have to be ready and willing to die to ourselves, to embrace pain and suffering, to embrace the cross, to participate in Christ’s suffering through our own…that’s the message of the gospel. And running long distances, persevering and feeling the pain, is for me a way to practice that.

7. Running is a Form of Vigil: If you run long enough distances, you’ll have to run through the night. On my first 100k I started in the morning, ran all day, and then into the night, finally finishing around 3 am. On the 88-mile run, I ran through the entire night. On both occasions, when I wasn’t accompanied by a fellow runner, those dark hours alone were times for prayer. St. Isaac the Syrian has an entire homily devoted to the power of a vigil, i.e., of praying at night. Here’s one line: “Prayer offered up at night possesses a great power, more so than the prayer of the daytime. All the righteous prayed during the night… There is nothing which even Satan fears so much as prayer that is offered during vigilance at night.”

8. Running requires Community: You can only run so far before you’re going to need help. You just can’t run really long distances without assistance. You may have seen aid stations for a marathon where volunteers provide water and Gatorade. Aid stations on a long trail run take that to a whole other level. Volunteers not only provide hydration, but they also have all sorts of food options for you. When you’re burning 400-500 calories every hour, you have to put calories back in to be able to keep going. It’s also not uncommon to get a bit disoriented—it happened to me when I stopped in at an aid station at mile 50—and those volunteers can be life-saving. Some runners bring their own crew to help them out at critical junctures in a long race. And they’ll often have a pacer join them in the latter portion of the race. Again, the mind is not able to think as clearly when you’ve been running that long so pacers can be very helpful in various ways. As it was not good for man to be alone in the garden, it is not good for a runner to be alone on a long run.