On Running

I have been running seriously since I was nine years old. I competed in both Cross Country and Track & Field from junior high through college. Those years thoroughly shaped my life. I still run with dedication and compete occasionally. I now even spend part of my time coaching high school runners.

There is so much that I could express about running. In truth, when I began to write reflectively about it I quickly exceeded two-hundred words—and I had not yet even completed my introductory thoughts. I have, therefore, tried to limit my ideas to their most rugged and poetic form. In one way what results is quite simple. In another way it is somewhat complex. To God be all glory. Amen.


Layers of Dust
By J.D. Grubb

Running

Exposed humanity: frail body and angry thought,
Temporal distances fragmented by illusive ambitions
Cultivated by civilization, broken by wilderness: drought
Layers of dust, winter crust on skin and path; visions
Of shrill winds through frosted morning windows,
Heavy heat desiccating being: mouth and sinews.
Humbled pride—hide your face. Return?

Running

Reveals redemption: cleansing mortality,
Freeing mind, external strength bracing perspective.
Nature unveils creation: colored leaves whisper,
Layers of dust—journey—snow-white roads lit by moon;
Lark song of morning brilliance, quiet painted dusk,
Undulating hills, deep forests, mirror lakes, noble peaks.
Humbled love—lifelong race: Return