The Joys of Running

‘Be running up that road. Be running up that hill. Be running up that building. Say if I only could.’ ~ Kate Bush

I have had extensive experience on running. I have run away from trouble. I have run away from responsibility. I have run away from work. Sounds familiar? Okay, I have yet to run away from the law.

I was attracted to running in secondary school. I never swam competitively as our school did not have a pool or an aggressive swim team. So, running was the natural way for me and my school churned out some fine cross-country runners. My form-teacher Mr Cheong Soon Kiat unleashed the runner in me with his encouragement. I appreciate his open-minded approach as my running is much better than my riding and swimming. Mr Cheong and his wife Suzanna are now serious triathletes.

My favourite book on running was ‘The Complete Book of Running’ by the late-Jim Fixx. A few years ago, I reviewed my running technique by attending a Chi Running workshop. I learnt to run lighter on my feet, with better alignment and smaller steps – and with almost child-like abandonment. Recently, advice from professional triathletes and my intuition led me to running with wider strides. I believe that I run faster now.

On Saturday, we hope that a professional triathlete will crack the 2 hour 40 minute marathon mark (in an Ironman race) set by Mark Allen almost two decades ago at Kona in the Ironman Triathlon World Championships. Steve Prefontaine defied his coach, Bill Bowerman (co-founder of Nike) by running ahead of the pack, and never behind. Steve could never be in the mix, nor trailed behind his competitors.

So, what has running got to do with leadership? Well, running can get you fit very quickly. The analogy of running has crept into our language. My triathlon friends include those who run businesses, run their families, and run large-scale operations.

Leadership Lessons: Do you run away from responsibility? Do you know when to run away from a bad opportunity? Have you ever run for your life? Have you considered running away from your fears?

Runner Logo designed by Tan Boon Fong.