It is truly a shame that there are so few of us who know this. To almost everyone, the word only exists as a verb; An action that is despised and loathed. It is an activity to be avoided at all costs.

Most who try it do not last. They cannot seem to persevere beyond the discomfort at the onset. It seems a pity that they will never know what lies beyond, When one crosses to the other side and finds more noun than verb.

I hate to ___. I can’t ___. I don’t know how you ___. That is where their brain is stuck, and all they say to me. If only they had held on a little longer; a few more times. If only they could remember what it felt like as a child.

To me it will forever be the noun that defines it. I do not discount the difficulty of the task, But it is one small piece of what makes it something else; A noun…person, place, and thing.

Person: each one is as unique as each of us. Each develops and grows like a child into an adult. The environment and stimuli transform it to define The “person” it ultimately becomes.

Place: It occupies space and encompasses an area. The area exists on the map but is not defined by municipal boundaries. The only limit to the “place” is the imagination of its creator, And once it is established, it exists forever; at least for the one who made it.

Thing: most interesting and most complicated Is how the verb becomes a “thing”. It is similar to its growth and development as a person, But only in that it evolves based on many influences.

The “thing” is an orb; a box or sphere, but never contained by hard walls. It grows and morphs and moves throughout its existence. It is not gas or liquid, and certainly never solid, and yet is has mass. Its mass is an undefined energy that swirls around like a specter.

The thing and its energy are the coming together of all that’s occurring. It is surroundings and weather and season and terrain. It is rest or lack of and conditioning or lack of. It is pain and joy and fear and certainty.

It is imagination and dreams. It is emotion and meditation. It can be hypnotic or as real and clear as the alarm clock in the morning. All of this, and more, come together to create the “thing”. The longer the “action…the verb” continues, the bigger the orb becomes.

As the action ends, the thing separates, and disperses into the universe. All the thoughts and dreams and stimuli that formed it Slip into other dimensions until the day they all reform. The day they all come back together to make the verb a noun.

It is not all pain and woe as most see the verb. It is not some torturous fitness tool designed to sculpt the body. It is a physical, mental, and spiritual adventure that humans were designed to experience. Let go of the pain in the verb “run”, and truly enjoy ALL that is the noun…

The Run!

- Andy Toy