Are we, as runners, tougher than the average bear? Are we more wiry and wily and better poised to flee danger? Are our bodies more accustomed to pain and inured to hardship? Can we endure that which others can not? Do we function more efficiently when subjected to physical stresses and strains? As Darwin might posit, are runners more fit to survive?
I know for a fact how one other running blogger feels on the subject...just read Yvonne's eerily appropriate post from July.
I ponder these things occasionally when I run, but I certainly have entertained these thoughts more frequently over the last week. My work days have been filled with images of the downtrodden and defeated, miserable and hungry and pushed beyond their limits.
| But lately, there's been a second wave of characters in this human drama...the stalwart and cantankerous locals who just plain refuse to leave their beloved N'awlins. They stocked up long ago on propane and bottled water, canned peas and rice, and as one holdout told the NY Times, "I haven't even run out of weed yet." These people look nothing like the bedraggled shelter residents. They look remarkably healthy and strong and their faces show the kind of resolve that looks familiar to anyone who has stood and cheered at the 25-mile mark of a marathon. |  Chang W. Lee/The New York Times |
p.s. I may have to rethink that shotgun...look at this quote from the same article in today's Times:
"To reduce the risk of violent confrontation, the police began confiscating firearms on Thursday, even those legally owned."
I don't know quite how I feel about that. I've always been a big proponent of gun control, using the logic that people still have the ability to arm themselves as long as their guns are registered. Does this mean I have to join the NRA now?
