The Distance Runner's Soul

Looking deep inside this man,
to find what God has put within,
to be the best that I can.

All the days I won't forget,
the snow, the wind, the rain, the ills,
the injuries, the sunshine and the hills.

The sweet taste of victories felt,
and struggles through the defeats dealt.

The passion, the emotion of raw competition,
for it is a man with dreams that never fails.

Thousands upon thousands of miles literally run,
all for the love of the purist of fun.

The grit and grind, the toughening of the mind.
For only in your heart you will find,
what it means to be a champion.

One never HAS to run, instead the GET to.
The laps, the hill sessions, the intervals and all,
but to find himself,
a man only needs to go on a weekly long run.

The peace, the tranquility, the fire within.
The passion burns deep to compete once again.

For it was long before I first stepped to the line,
that the good Lord was preparing the desire in me
deep down inside.

From all over the world, have come the people I've met,
all over the country races run that I'll never forget.

The love, the passion in my blood,
to be the best I could be no matter what.

From when I was a child to now as a man,
all I ever though of was "I can."

No man can ever take that from me,
but now I hope to pass the fire on to thee.

-Mark Misch, 1998

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