Roadrunner reading (by Rachel Ragan

Stories, Stories and more Stories! By Rachel Ragan

11 So, there I was; it was mid-December, and there they were (the stack of Roadrunners for 2019), and there I was, glaring at them, thinking, “no no no, I don’t want to read all of these stories again!” Every year, I must do this and every year, I think that I’m not going to do it any more … but I must do it this time, because it’s too late to find someone else to do it…. and then, just like always, by the time I am through re-reading the stories, I think it’s the most wonderful thing I could have done and I want to do it again next year.

I have been running, consistently, for 35 years. It all started when I lived in Clarksville, Tennessee, working in my uncle’s fitness center. There was an indoor track that was a tenth of a mile long; around and around I’d go. I would go in early every morning, before we opened, turn the music up and run on that track.

This went on for six months until I felt brave enough to go outside and tackle that long hill up Madison Avenue. This seemed to be the route of the running community and I now felt a part of that group. This was really a big deal to me because at the time, I lacked selfconfidence and all the things that go with it. Now, I felt slightly confident for the first time. Why? Because I was doing something that was all mine. No one gave it to me; I had to work for it. So now, in my life, I had finally accomplished something and it felt good. Of course, at the time, I did not know this; I just knew I was doing something a little hard but fun; I was making new friends and feeling empowered. Something was driving me, and to this day, it still is.

I have been running the Road Race Series for 33 years. After the final half marathon, I like to take a break every year. During this break, I run only two or three times a week, and only three or four miles each time. If I want to take a complete week or two off, I do and do not feel guilty.

The only downside to this is that I become a little lazy and the food demon won’t stop knocking at my door.

For some reason, I keep having a birthday every year. I was talking to my doctor once, asking him why my muscles are so stiff and why things hurt so much these days, and that was his answer – birthdays. I really do think there is more to it than that, and so I am still searching and trying new things.

So, those Roadrunner magazines – I am still staring at them, feeling unmotivated, thinking that running is too hard to do; everything hurts – I’m so slow these days – it’s just not fun anymore.

So I begin reading. I read and read … days and days of reading … trying to get through one issue per day… I read about someone’s thoughts during a race, how they pushed through and overcame the odds … I read of someone’s mental or physical upsets and how running helped them deal with it … and then there is the one story that speaks right to me … I connect with that person and live their story as if it were mine.

So now, it is mid-January 2020. I have just done MRTC is proud to be a member of the American Trail Running Association. ... I felt slightly confident for the first time.