William, Michelle, and Justin after the Cambridge half marathon
Justin: I’ve been running since the beginning of grade school. Even in my earliest years of school I had a “team” of runners that would forego the jungle gym in favor of sprint races during recess. I had a 10 year competitive career taking me through undergrad and have recovered a bit of those competitive juices since living in Boston and training with people like William. Running is a core part of who I am, my primary form of exercise, and one of the communities I operate within.
William: I picked up running in high school when I joined the cross country team as a freshman. When I started, I didn’t think I’d run all year long, but after running and forming friendships that season, I was sold on the sport. I haven’t really stopped running since then.
Justin and I started running together about a year ago, after we connected through some mutual friends at the CSTM. It has been great to get to know Justin through the many conversations we’ve shared over runs, because they have been an opportunity to better know someone who is deeply invested in living out the mystery of Christ and in trying to understand it more deeply. While we’ve been supporting and pushing each other physically in running, there has also been a spiritual training that’s taking place.
Justin: We’ve shared some particularly memorable runs with our makeshift training group we jokingly call “Jesuits and Friends Track Club” (JFTC), which includes former CSTM student Katie (Glenn) Brown and her husband Nathan, a PhD student at MIT named Michelle, and our very own Fr. Brian Dunkle (he’s fast, folks). In one particular track workout that William and I did at Harvard—a day on which he was feeling quite fast—he tried to dust me in the last 100m of a 400m interval. I said (to myself), “Not today, Satan!” That was a great session that we laugh about often.
William: Haha! I knew that was a risky move. Another favorite running memory of mine is a long run around Fresh Pond with Justin and Michelle. At one point, Michelle asked Justin about how he had become Catholic. That launched an extended narrative that included a lot of theological investigation as well as the story of how Justin met his wife Caroline. It was nearly the whole hour-plus long run.
Justin: If you know me you probably won’t be surprised by this long-windedness… But that’s the thing. Running naturally breeds important, prolonged conversations about our lives as well as our conceptions and experiences of God.
William: I think running—especially distance running—sparks those conversations because it has a contemplative dimension. I think that’s why a priest I knew when I was younger called distance running “the thinking man’s sport.” Running often helps clear the mind of the distractions, worries, and fears that can be obstacles to following where God is leading. It invites a certain kind of meditation, a dual attentiveness to what’s going on internally as well as to the environment around you.
Justin: And, as cliche as it might sound, running in Boston (especially in the fall) is one of the best ways to take in the beauty of God’s visible creation. It creates community and comradery that has ecclesial undertones. The “church of the long run” is an apt image of the running community, even if that particular church lacks the most sacred signs of God’s grace we receive in the sacraments.