They were all over my parent’s house, those monuments to my childhood: the plaster cast of my hand, a Valentine’s card I made myself. Now, my home is filled with the same monuments to my son’s childhood: the wreath made of rotini pasta that gets hung on the door every Christmas, the rock with felt feet, head and tail that, if you have enough imagination, looks very much like a turtle. They are prized possessions. My home is also filled with the monuments of my return to childhood, of my return to a time of play and joy: my finisher’s…

Okay, it was the right thing to do. So why does it hurt so much?   It isn’t always easy being a runner. It isn’t always easy being the Penguin. Sometimes it’s almost impossible to be both and to be true to either. One of the canons of the Penguin philosophy is that running – all running – is joyful in its own right. It’s the act of running, being in the moment of the motion, that brings satisfaction. And it’s the process that matters most, not the outcome. But some runners wrongly think that this focus on participation rather…

A few things that New York City Marathon runners – and spectators – can teach the world. One of the biggest thrills of my former life as a trombonist was working with Frank Sinatra. And one of the biggest thrills of working with Sinatra was performing “New York, New York” – it just doesn’t get any better than that. So standing with more than 35,000 runners on the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge at the start of last year’s ING New York City Marathon and listening to Frank blasting through the speakers made me more than a little emotional. It is, after…

A running shirt is a great way to share who you are and why you’re out there. Sitting behind a car at a stoplight recently, I learned the driver’s political affiliation, sexual orientation, the college he attended, that his child was an honor student, and the number of his favorite NASCAR driver. All this from bumper stickers, and it was way more than I wanted to know. Runners aren’t immune from this need to tell people about ourselves, except we put our message on our clothes. I started a bit of controversy a few years back by wearing a shirt…

Although the miles may pass slowly, the logbooks fill up fast. A running life, re-examined. When my twin grandchildren were born, my son and daughter-in-law worried that they would never get past the constant care and feeding of the babies, the lack of sleep, and just the general chaos. I told them that, from my experience as a parent, the days were long but the years were short. I was reflecting on this when I realized that the end of 2006 marked the end of my 15th year as a runner. Fifteen years! I can remember when I first started…

Reflections on running from one journey to the next. Ten years ago this month, I wrote a column celebrating my 50th birthday called “Out and Back” in which I waxed romantically that I had reached the proverbial orange cone indicating the turnaround point in my life. The challenges of my first 50 years were behind me, I opined, and from that point on, I expected my life to follow a much easier, mostly downhill course. Boy, was I wrong. Since then, I’ve left my career in higher education, moved back home to Chicago, started a race company, gotten divorced, witnessed…

For many, a half is greater than the sum of its parts. There are some truly great marathon finish lines: Boston, with the run up Boylston; New York, running through Central Park; Chicago, heading up Michigan Avenue. They are all views not to be missed. My problem with these finishes was that by the time I got there, with the exception of Chicago, the sun was already going down. This may help explain why I’ve become more and more excited about running half-marathons. After all, my half-marathon time is pretty good – if it was for a full marathon. And…

Originally published in Runner’s World, August 2000 The Inner Penguin  I’m a 90’s guy. Or at least I was. That all seems so… “20th Century” now. I’m not ready to call myself a “zero” guy, but I’ll bet there are others that might. I’m in touch with my feminine side, I know all about male bounding, and I am way too in touch with my inner child.  But, I am just beginning to learn how to be in touch with my inner Penguin.  I didn’t even know that there WAS an inner penguin at first. I thought that being a…

Some athletes are born. Then there are those (like me) who become athletic purely by accident. Some athletes are born. Some are made. And then there are those, like me, who become athletes completely by accident. You’ve seen the type. I was the youngster who took the wild hook shot that somehow went in the basket. I was the Little Leaguer who circled under a towering fly ball, held out his hands, closed his eyes and prayed that the ball would plop into my glove. When I made a basket or caught the ball, no one was more surprised than…