Consecrated to the Heart of the Redeemer under the patronage of the Theotokos and Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J.

24 July 2012

Sacerdos Currens

(Latin for "running priest," if you were interested in knowing.)

In the Twitter sense and not in the Stalker sense, I just started "following" Joe Muldowney (@rdrunnr00), longtime teacher and former mayor of Pottsville, PA, runner and author of Running Shorts, a book I picked up while shoe-shopping at A Running Start in West Reading.

Joe has been writing monthly columns for the Republican-Herald for many years.  Now he has written the aforementioned book, a clever combination of anecdotes and advice.

I must admit that, although I enjoy the book very much, it reads like a "Lives of the Saints" insofar as I find the likes of Joe, running-wise, unattainable.  But I read on anyhow, because inspiring persons aren't intended to keep us down but rather to spur us on to greater (and faster) heights.

My longtime admiration of excellent people has been fueled by more than masochism.  There's a saying I heard several years ago: "Stick With the Winners."  We learn from them by keeping company with them, by talking honestly with them, and by doing what they do.  That applies not only with athletics, but also with most other disciplines in this life.

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