Happy New Year!

Another 365 days for running

To usher in the new year I have created a Facebook page. Just key in "Fat Old Man Running" and it should get you there or click here.
Yours truly would like to share 12 quotes he picked up along the way to just maybe help his constant runners run on...

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”
― John Bingham, No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running

“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”
― Dean Karnazes 

“For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself. At least that’s why I’ve put in the effort day after day: to raise my own level. I’m no great runner, by any means. I’m at an ordinary – or perhaps more like mediocre – level. But that’s not the point. The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.”
― Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running  

“If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.”
― Kathrine Switzer, 26.2: Marathon Stories 

“When people ask me why I run, I tell them, there's not really a reason, it's just the adrenalin when you start, and the feeling when you cross that finish line, and know that you are a winner no matter what place you got.”
― Courtney Parsons   

“We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.”
― Emil Zatopek 

“You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn’t live to love anything else… We were born to run; we were born because we run”
― Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen 

"There are no short cuts in marathoning, so anyone who is a marathoner has worked hard.”
― Jeff Horowitz, My First 100 Marathons: 2,620 Miles With An Obsessive Runner  

“The true runner is a very fortunate person. He has found something in him that is just perfect.”
― George Sheehan 

I was a round little man with a heavy heart but a hopeful spirit. I didn't really run, or even jog. I waddled. I was a Penguin. This was the image that fit. Emperor-proud, I stand tall to face the elements of my life. Yes, I am round. Yes, I am slow. Yes, I run as thought my legs are tied together at the knees. But I am running. And that is all that matters.”
― John Bingham, The Courage To Start: A Guide To Running for Your Life 

“The act of running is simple, one foot in front of the other. The art of becoming a runner is achieved through a new mindset and commitment to change, especially if it’s new to you. It’s tough, challenging, painful, sometimes lonely, regularly uncomfortable and often excruciating… but the rewards are second to none.”
― Terry Lander, Fat Guy Runs A Marathon