Dawn holds a special place in a runner’s heart. This morning as I set off for my run a mist hung in the predawn air just over my head, so close that I could almost touch it. It divided the world in two. The fresh morning air filled my lungs and the birds sang their morning song as the sky ahead began to glow. Then in that magic moment that separates night from day, the sun streaked the sky with pink and gold turning the mist into diamonds. Through the next ten minutes a great red ball grew on the horizon casting long shadows from the trees and glistening on the morning mist. Then day began.
August mornings are made for running with the birds still here to sing you on your way. The air is fresh and full of promise; even in this driest of all summers. At its best running becomes poetry. When the rhythm of your breathing, the beating of your heart, the pounding of your feet and the music in your head all come together the experience transcends life. Through running’s inner peace, you feel as though anything is still possible.
Life is too short and too beautiful to waste fighting the constant barrage of anger that accompanies modern living. Dawn on the road is never angry or divisive. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows, but because they are what they are, with no secret agenda, they too can make the spirit soar with their beauty.
Running is not just for competition. It lives in the heart and feeds the soul. You need only watch the eagerness with which children run to their play to know just how much a part of us running really is. Best of all, in the early morning the world feels at peace. Before the blazing sun mounts into the sky and the traffic jam begins there is a time of cool stillness and beauty that will not be denied.
Now, to top it off, as I approach sixty, I am finally going to set a world record, not for running but for walking which is just as good. On October 3 at 12:30 PM more than a million Canadians will join to walk one kilometer for the Guiness Book of World Records. Every green community across Canada will participate in this walk including City of Kawartha Lakes. Toward Balance Network, The Health Unit and Parks and Recreation are planning venues across the city so everyone interested in sharing in the record will have the opportunity to walk during the lunch hour. Which of us hasn’t longed for a moment in history? So here is your chance. Come and join us by walking for fitness, walking for the record or best of all walking for fun. I’ll see you there.