Running On Hallowed Ground
Why Western States And Rodgau Were a Spiritual Experience
I've already written a lot about the sub-3 marathon in Rodgau and my Western States race and thought about it even more. Even a whole book about the latter. I believe that I can still learn a lot from both experiences. I try to approach this infinite potential for new insights piece by piece. In this text I will take a completely new angle.
A Spiritual Level
While in both races I was able to clearly name the specific factors that favored (and less favored) the respective outcome and also described in detail what my head contributed to it at the decisive moment, namely nothing at all, there is a third level. In addition to the physical and other worldly factors such as fitness, temperature, setting, nutrition etc. and the mental aspects, both runs also took place on a spiritual level.
We are now leaving planet earth for a moment and I will try to explain what I mean by that.
Running on Hallowed Ground
By the grace of a Divine Power
Sometimes when we run, we do so on Hallowed Ground. We enter a higher plane, the Otherworld, as we move from the Ego to the Self, from the conscious to the subconscious. Or more precisely, to the superconscious.
We leave the material world of the tangible "what is" and enter the spiritual world of "what can be".
We manage to invoke a Divine Power and receive a sacred gift through her grace.
What happens then is what I call "Running on Hallowed Ground" and it was bestowed upon me on a an acre in Rodgau and in the canyons of the Western State 100.
Are you still with me?
When we run on Hallowed Ground, we are one with what we are doing. Everything flows and we ignite a strength and endurance that we don't get from everyday training. Running feels effortless. The question of why dissolves in the movement. We are what we do.
Running for the sake of running.
Being for the sake of being.
This Divine Power does not always appear and not when we want it to. We can only do our work and hope that she sees that we are ready.
Doing our work means:
training
taking care of ourselves
respecting our limits
staying healthy
and always showing up at the starting line
That is our contribution. That is what we must and can do. Anything beyond that is out of our hands. I think we all agree on that, whether we believe in a third, spiritual level or a Divine Power or not.
The things that we seek, that we desire, that give meaning to our lives, already exist in the Otherworld. Our job is to bring them forth into this world and make them real.
The Quest
I am aware that races like Rodgau and Western States are very rare. We experience races like these very rarely in our lives. But that's what makes them so special. If we could reproduce these extraordinary moments at the push of a button, they would no longer be extraordinary.
Much of our sport is characterized by elaborate plans, fixed structures, and hard data. For any runner who finds fulfillment in the process, this is a great advantage.
There has probably never been a time when even an amateur athlete could draw on so much professional knowledge and experience from others. I don't see anything wrong with that. The Levelhead in me loves this world and spends endless hours delving into the smallest details to learn how to "solve" running even better. I find the greatest fulfillment in this mental work, and for me it is inseparable from running. And yet…
And yet we are looking for something else. Something bigger, not tangible, not measurable, not replicable. As much as we love our numbers, our data, our facts, we secretly long for a release from them. We seek a world where they do not matter, where we can become one with the strength of our bodies, the purity of our souls, and the reduction to the absolute essentials: Running for running's sake.
I am grateful to have had this experience at Western States and on a frozen field in Rodgau. To have run on Hallowed Ground. To have received this sacred gift from a Divine Power. I will carry a piece of it in my heart on every run from now on, and maybe one day I will be swept away in this way again.
I'm not asking for it, but I'm ready.
Everything not Running
A dear friend of mine asked me to write a few words about his “Few Kids Run The Block” initiative. This is a gathering of runners who find themselves at the crossroads between running and mental health. Here’s what I came up with:
“Writing, like running, is my mental life insurance. Both are always there for me, low-threshold enough to be done even in difficult times, and universal enough to touch me on all emotional levels. It doesn't matter if I'm writing a sentence or a book. Whether I run one kilometer or 100 miles. What it does to me is the same. It grounds me, it connects me to myself, and it shows me a path where I don't see one before. Even if sometimes it's not easy to write the first word or take the first step, it's always simple.”
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Ich finde die spirituellen Analogie sehr spannend. Tatsächlich kann ich mich da ganz gut reindenken.
Ab einem bestimmen Punkt, habe ich mich in der aktuellen Vorbereitung auf meinen ersten Halbmarathon so gefühlt, wie in den Jahren der Zurüstung zur Ordination.
Beide Wege haben irgendwann angefangen mein Leben zu verändern. Und der Sunday Long Run zielt ja auch auf den gleichen Wochentag wie die Gottesdienst Vorbereitung.
Die Verbindung zwischen dem Laufen (gerade beim Trail über Stock und Stein) gibt mir noch mal einen anderen Bezug zur Schöpfung und zur Natur. Daraus ziehe ich viel Kraft für die Predigtarbeit und umgekehrt ziehe ich aus dem Glauben den Mut, alles (zumindest was der Körper ertragen kann) schaffen oder zumindest probieren zu können.
When I read your writing, I wonder how much you are still changing because of your experiences at Western States (and maybe Rodgau) and if "Runhundred" wouldn't be a completely different book if you started today.