100 things in running to be happy about...

1. The book, Running Encyclopedia by Joe Henderson and Rich Benyo.
2. ID tags/items for runners.
3. Spectators cheering from their lawns.
4. Leaving a prized race time on your watch for days.
5. Health clubs.
6. Writing in your training log.
7. Running a negative split race (the second half faster than the first).
8. Fifty degree, sunny, windless days.
9. Lifesaver Creme Savers, cream of wheat.
10. Track spikes; most other sports compete in the shoes they practice in.
11. Hearing your name announced at the finish.
12. Sharing your running with your parents.
13. Timing the light change just right at an intersection.
14. Owning a good picture of yourself running.
15. Making time to run.
16. Buying running shoes for your kid(s).
17. Knowing when to back off to avoid further problems.
18. Being attendant to an important record being set.
19. Running in a metric country.
20. Outdoor tracks open and free to the public.
21. Running with friends as the world sleeps.
22. Button down or polo souvenir race shirts.
23. Medical research praising running.
24. Meeting and learning how much elite athletes are just like us.
25. When a race tee shirt becomes a conversation starter.
26. Fourth of July and Thanksgiving Day races.
27. The first time in the fall you wear a hat and the first time in the spring you get to wear shorts.
28. Midweek evening races in the summer.
29. Running in all 83 Michigan counties.
30. Race tee shirts that only go to finishers.
31. Knowing you've earned your time in the Jacuzzi.
32. References to running in cartoons.
33. Dogs contained behind 'invisible' fences.
34. Running with your dog.
35. Running a marathon in all 50 states and DC.
36. The roads and trails are always there.
37. Destination marathons (Big Sur, Flying Pig, DisneyWorld).
38. Running is just about the cheapest sport to participate in, reaping some of the greatest rewards.
39. At your discretion, time can mean everything, or nothing.
40. You name it, somebody has run there.
41. The gentle pace at the start of a run.
42. You're not touched by drugs in the sport or political infighting.
43. Questions about the best way to stretch or whether to walk in a race don't trouble you.
44. Racing crew teams along river banks.
45. To own your own ChampionChip.
46. With sweat streaming into your eyes, discovering the hemmed bottom of your tee shirt makes a good headband.
47. When long runs evolve into 'active meditation.'
48. The brick finishing straightway at Crim.
49. Wolverine Cross-country Camp for high schoolers.
50. Country miles.
51. Remembering to pack everything you'll need for running while traveling.
52. Nineteen year old Ethiopian, Kenenisa Bekele, won both the short and long races at the '02 World Cross-country Championships in Dublin.
53. It's okay to run less than you'd planned.
54. New place or old, you get to know your surroundings best on the run.
55. Running loosens the tongue, turning strangers into friends and builds on old ties.
56. Women-only events.
57. Marathon training classes/groups.
58. Racing flats.
59. Donating 'previously owned' shoes to charity.
60. At your ten year school reunion, you discover that you've been running longer and PR's are better than the school star(s).
61. Scents that conjure pleasant memories.
62. Taking your turn to lead in a repetition workout.
63. Making plans to get together to run.
64. From Emil Zatopek, triple gold medalist in the '52 Olympic Games, "We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run the 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."
65. The scent and rustle of 8' high sweet corn beside a quiet country road.
66. Naming your pets after famous runners.
67. The Fifth Third Riverbank 25 km and Detroit Free Press Marathon are both 25 years old.
68. The example you set influencing somebody to try running.
69. Mild winters.
70. Running across bridges.
71. Running lets you take control of a small part of your life with far-reaching possibilities.
72. Running isn't complicated.
73. Having somebody say, "You look like you keep fit."
74. Meeting and becoming friends with another runner midrace.
75. The venerable Penn and Drake Relays.
76. Dreaming up bumper sticker slogans about running.
77. The National Distance Running Hall of Fame in Utica, NY.
78. 'Why do you run?" answers evolve and mature with time.
79. You've been hooked by LSD; long slow distance.
80. You aren't hung up by the semantic difference between 'doing' or 'running' a race.
81. Running where you haven't for 5 years or more.
82. Arranging for more point-to-point runs with friends.
83. Running a race in honor of somebody (friend, family member).
84. Going to Hell...to run through it.
85. Getting something useful in your race 'goody' bag.
86. Seeing cows and not being able to resist your best, "Moooo."
87. Running along the Lake Michigan shore.
88. Finding sameday results online for many races.
89. From George Sheehan, "For every runner who tours the world running marathons, there are thousands who run to hear the leaves and listen to rain and look to the day when it is suddenly as easy as a bird in flight. For them, sport is not a test but a therapy, not a trial but a reward, not a question but an answer."
90. Running with your children.
91. The crunch of wet 2" deep snow.
92. Club newsletters.
93. Sneaking onto golf courses to run.
94. Being asked and being able to give directions to a motorist.
95. Losing your sense of direction in the woods.
96. Your doctor asking if you run because of a low heart rate.
97. The 26th mile of a marathon.
98. Winning a prize at a prediction run (where you guess how long it'll take to run a set distance minus your watch).
99. Event volunteers.
100. The Girls On The Run program.

Best, Scott Hubbard