Truth in Motion

Why Running and Writing Are Never Still

Through Binoculars

I got a pair of binoculars for my birthday. Binoculars to look at the mountains in my new home. Undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful gifts ever.

(Say ‘‘hi’ to my new hobby)

When I looked through them for the first time and focused on the object of my observation – the top station of the Alpspitzbahn directly below the impressive Alpspitze (2628 m) – I immediately felt a strong impulse: I wanted to photograph what I saw.

(A pathetic attempt to take a photo with my smartphone at maximum zoom)

The Limits of Documentation

Unfortunately, you can't take a picture through binoculars (at least I don't think you can), but for me, it's not about the technical aspects, it's about the desire to document the beautiful and exciting things I see. And to share them.

Writing as a Lens

There is a strong analogy with writing. Like through binoculars, I observe what I think and feel about running. Or rather, I notice it, as American writer and writing teacher Verlyn Klinkenborg calls it.

And then I write it down. As honestly and accurately as I can. And yet, it will always only be a description and not a photograph, literally and figuratively.

The feeling of unease that remains in me can be summed up with the following question: Am I describing truthfully and accurately enough for my counterpart to get the right picture?

Words are just not photographs.

The Subjectivity of Truth

On the other hand, there is no single truth anyway. Truth comes from the evaluation of what has been read or seen. In other words, every artifact has an infinite number of individual truths.

My individual truth when I looked at the top station of the Alpspitzbahn through binoculars was:

• So near. So far away.

• How my body feels after climbing almost 1500 meters.

• The smell of stone up there and how cold and direct the wind feels on the skin, even or especially in summer.

• The realization of having reached the highest point of the Zugspitz Ultratrail, but still being in the shadow of the actual summit, the Alpspitze, and starting the descent into the valley.

• And the forbidding yet tantalizing thought that you could avoid all that by taking the cable car instead of running.

(This is basically the view top down – The '“x” marks my new home, my binoculars viewing point)

The Paradox of Seeking

And yet, isn't that the paradox of seeking? That the very act of trying to capture a moment – whether in words, photographs, or even memory – changes it?

We reach for permanence, but all we ever hold onto is the fleeting, the disappearing. And perhaps that is the essence of both running and writing: not to hold onto a moment, but to experience it fully, knowing that it will slip away, leaving only an imprint, inevitably shaped by our own perspective.

The art of letting go.

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Everything Not Running

“Running? Yes, but first coffee.”

My latest article for Laufzeit Magazine is called "Kaffee-Kilometer" (coffee miles) and is about the two best things in the world: running and coffee. Pick up the latest issue of Laufzeit (2025/02) and read for yourself.

I have described my coffee drinking habits several times in past "Everything Not Running" columns. For example, in this one or in this one.

The bottom line? Running and coffee go hand in hand and I will never get tired (pun intended) of celebrating both in combination.

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On Repeat

There are hardcore bands and then there are hardcore bands. And then there is or was Empowerment. It is a simple trick if you want to be unforgotten as a hardcore band: Be authentic. In everything you do.

The band's predecessor, Sidekick, Empowerment (which disbanded in 2022), and follow-up projects like Kali Yuga all followed this path. Everything that is sung about, celebrated, fought against or decried takes place in the lives of the band members. The words are meant exactly as they are shouted into the microphone. And every song expresses an honest and sincere musical love for a certain genre.

Empowerment's 2012 debut album "Gegen.Kult" is still one of the most authentic and honest hardcore albums I know. The musical and lyrical storytelling reflects my own language and I recognize myself very much in these songs.

Especially the track "90er", a tribute to the best decade the hardcore subculture has ever seen. Well, that's probably what every hardcore kid says about "their" decade ;-) Anyway, the 90s, its bands, its culture, its values and its people shaped me like no other time in my life.

Empowerment sums it up perfectly with "90er".