Every month it seems, we get pitched stories about people biking hundreds of miles, or running hundreds of miles, for a cause. Today I got a press release announcing that "Professor Henry Sanchez, the Tacolist.com Barefoot Eco-Runner, is running from Argentina to Alaska to bring awareness of protecting and reforesting our planet."

I always turn these stories down, because I always suspect a hidden agenda, one the runner or biker might not be aware of.

I think they are running from grief. Over a hard marriage, a troubled career, a death. Or they are running to work out some unresolved grief. The hardest thing in times of sorrow and despair is to stay still with the pain. This is just my theory.

Also, these runners or bikers almost always depend on help and comfort along the way. Often from strangers. In grief, it can be difficult to get what you need from those closest to you. And indeed Sanchez has found great support. "Four hundred firehouses have supported him throughout his journey by providing shelter and food," according to the press release.

 In the movie Forest Gump the Tom Hanks character knew he was running out of his grief for his dead mother and his failed romance. And when his sorrow was spent after three years, he quit running.

   (S-R archive photo)   

 

 

 

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