What on earth would inspire someone to voluntarily run 100 miles or more? In this era of easily accessible mechanized transportation, why would anyone willingly decide to lace up a pair of running shoes and venture out under their own foot power? Perhaps it’s owing to the inspiration that running long distances evokes. In a world where everything comes easily, why do something difficult?
Throughout the ages, poets, writers, philosophers and thinkers have tried to encapsulate and distill into words the duality of undertaking difficult endeavors. Man seeks comfort, yet there is an undeniable yearning by a select few for just the opposite. What follows are some thoughts and musings on the conflicted allure of arduous tasks. If you’ve run an ultra, you’ll intimately relate:
“Endurance is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Anne Radmacher
“The greater the difficultly, the greater the glory in surmounting it.” – Alexander the Great, 332 BC
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into difficulties and trials, for we know that through perseverance we build character.”
– Romans 5:3
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” – Bruce Lee
“Having the will to endeavor difficult tasks is what separates the hero from the coward.” – Marcus Aurelius
“Without hard work nothing grows but weeds.” – Gordon Hinckley
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Above the clouds the sun is still shinning.” – Ernest Shackleton (Antarctic explorer)
“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.” – Angela Duckworth
“Fall seven times, arise eight.” – Japanese Proverb
“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” – Winston Churchill
“The journey of a thousand miles must begin with the courage of a single step.” – Lao Tzu
“The greatest of all wars is fought within.” – Carl Jung
“The greatest of all talents is persistence.” – Aristotle Onassis
“It always seems impossible until it is done.” – Nelson Mandela
“Running an ultra is simple, all you have to do is not stop.”
That final pity and rather self-evident quip comes from yours truly. I hope these quotes serve as a source of inspiration and motivation. Good luck on reaching the finish line of your next ultra. Remember, all you have to do is not stop.