Running is the Great Equalizer

This morning during my run, I was thinking that running is the great equalizer. That is until I looked up the word and realized it does not mean to make all things equal.


Since we've all been shot down in the shins, knees, feet, hips or some other place by running, I think this word is still appropriate.

But back to my earlier thought this morning, running is one of the things that makes everyone equal in the following ways:

1) Some runners such as myself were not good at sports as a kid, but then along came running and behold, we are athletes.

2) You get a group of runners in a room and you might have people from all walks of life or rungs of whatever ladder you're on, but in a room full of runners, your only title is you're a runner.

3) Running pretty much gives back whatever you put into it. Sure there are those that have the "runners body," but that doesn't mean you can't become a runner. If you want to be a casual runner, a long distance runner, a sprinter, any kind of runner that you want to be, all you have to do is work at it and you'll get there.

4) The flip side of that is, running will beat you down if you don't treat it right whether you're a casual runner or a professional. In that sense, yes running can be a great equalizer.

5) When I'm running, I can be entertained and motivated by just about anything. This morning, my iPod kept me going with a variety of songs from the Christmas Carol, "Joy to the World," to a Gospel song called, "Days of Elijah" sent to me by my family to "My Hump," by the Black Eyed Peas. All of these songs made me want to run my hump off with joy in my heart.

At one point during my run in the gym this morning, I stopped myself from exuberantly lifting my hands into the air, just in time to look in front of me and see another guy doing just that.

You see, this is further proof that running makes us all equally and wonderfully crazy.