Choose Love

Thoughts on choosing to do hard things in running and life.

By on October 28, 2020 | Comments

This year has not been easy.
But neither is running.
Even though it’s early or late or cold or hot or we have a million other things to do, we still put soles to dirt.
Onward we patter, though our breath grows ragged and our brows salty and our legs leaden.

We arrive back home and come to rest on the stoop and somehow find ourselves more alive than when we began.
Within this hard thing, we experienced ease.
We received more than we gave.
It may be impossible physics, but we all know how running creates in us more energy than we expend.

This is the great mystery of running–and life.
I am weary, and perhaps you are, too.
But if you are in doubt, maybe because you are in doubt, choose love.
Let’s put souls to the saltiest bit of life and watch love grow in ways we can’t yet imagine.

Call for Comments

  • What are you choosing to love right now despite the challenge of doing so?
  • In what other parts of life do you receive more than you give?

All photos: iRunFar

Meghan Hicks

Meghan Hicks is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar. She’s been running since she was 13 years old, and writing and editing about the sport for around 15 years. She served as iRunFar’s Managing Editor from 2013 through mid-2023, when she stepped into the role of Editor-in-Chief. Aside from iRunFar, Meghan has worked in communications and education in several of America’s national parks, was a contributing editor for Trail Runner magazine, and served as a columnist at Marathon & Beyond. She’s the co-author of Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running with Bryon Powell. She won the 2013 Marathon des Sables, finished on the podium of the Hardrock 100 Mile in 2021, and has previously set fastest known times on the Nolan’s 14 mountain running route in 2016 and 2020. Based part-time in Moab, Utah and Silverton, Colorado, Meghan also enjoys reading, biking, backpacking, and watching sunsets.