From the Editor’s Desk

From the Editor’s Desk Brent Manley

1 smiling, but they weren’t frowning either. If the rain hadn’t been coming down so hard, I would have stopped and offered a handshake of respect to those warriors who defied Mother Nature’s attempt to spoil a good run.

I wondered if any of the people I saw out there were streakers – runners who run at least a mile a day no matter what’s going on with the weather. I’ve met a few streakers. Some years ago, I wrote a profile of a Memphis man – a retired dentist – who had logged enough consecutive days running at least a mile to get himself into the top ranks of streakers in the United States.

For all I know, of course, the men and women I saw running in the rain and cold were just determined to get in a run. I’m not as intrepid as the runners I saw today, but I understand them. When I occasionally feel a bit out of sorts, my first thought to break out of the funk is usually to find a way to get out on the street or into the gym for a run. It always makes me feel better. I have started many a run not feeling good, but I have ended all of those runs glad I made the effort and feeling renewed.

Steve Barry, the friend I run with the most, lives in Davies Plantation. On days that Steve has to go to work, we schedule our runs at 6 a.m., which means I have to wake up about 5 a.m., not my favorite time to crawl out of bed. I keep getting up to go run with Steve because I always feel better when we finish. It’s a good way to start the day,

I don’t know what motivated the runners I saw today, but I’m grateful they decided to get out there and do it. They reminded me that I should worry less about the conditions and just do it. As a runner, I should have been out there today, possibly inspiring someone else to just do what runners do. Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.

— Dan Gable – College wrestling star and all-time winningest coach at the University of Iowa On the third Saturday in January (today, as I write this), I had several errands to run, and I had hoped to do a bit of real running – that is, using my feet instead of my car – before I started on the errands.

My plans for regular running went out the window when I opened the garage door to see the rain coming down. It was not a drizzle or mist, and the farther I drove, the heavier it got. So much for my plans for exercise.

Before I got home after picking up this and that and getting rid of some things that needed to be recycled, I was ashamed of myself for giving up on running. As I made my rounds, I was surprised to see several runners braving the downpour as they made their way on the sidewalks of the streets I was driving. None of them – the runners were about half-and-half men and women – looked especially pleased to be making their way in the less-than-optimum conditions, but each displayed a determination to get in a run no matter the conditions. They weren’t necessarily I'm not as intrepid as the runners I saw today ... Renew your MRTC membership at www.memphisrunners.com