extreme running

I just returned from an awesome event.

500+ runners, 1000+ shoes, and 13.1 miles of rugged mountain trails.
It is taking road running and making it Trail Running, which is nothing like running on the Raritan Canal.
This was running up and down and up and up and up loose rock paths. It wears into your pace by at least 2min/mile, not to mention your body. So as I meander through the hills of Pennsylvania, with ankles turning, I was reminded the freedom of running.
When I slip on a pair of running shoes, I feel like I can go anywhere, and now I have discovered that I can scamper across rocks, climb boulders, and slop through mud should I choose.

People ask why I have taken up running:
At first it was because I had quit football and needed a new way to "beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Now however, I have discovered the joy because, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11).