He's A Cross Country Boy

For Joseph:

I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power.  You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.  ~Jesse Owens

"Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. 

It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed."

 ~Charles Schulz, Peanuts

"Only one person and one person only will determine how good of a runner you become...

You will become as good as you let yourself be.

That one person is you."

"When you put yourself on the line in a race

and expose yourself to the unknown,

you learn things about yourself that are very exciting."

~Doris Brown Heritage

5-time World Cross-Country Champion

 When I was about 14 or 15, and running in a pretty muddy cross country race, one of my shoes stuck in the mud and came off. Boy, was I wild. To think that I had trained hard for this race and didn't do up my shoelace tightly enough! I really got aggressive with myself, and I found myself starting to pass a lot of runners. As it turned out, I improved something like twenty places in that one race. But I never did get my shoe back.

- Rob de Castella

 Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better. 

Juha Väätäinen, Finland

 Ask yourself: 

"Can I give more? The answer is usually: Yes."

~Paul Tergal

 Running is like mouthwash; 

if you can feel the burn, it's working. 

                                      ~Brian Tackett

 People ask why I run. 

I say, "If you have to ask, you will never understand". 

It is something only those select few know. 

Those who put themselves through pain, 

but know, 

deep down, 

how good it really feels. 

                                     ~Erin Leonard