I love great quotes. Some of these nuggets of wisdom condensed to their essence are like riddles and take a few moments to grasp before their meaning bursts forward to inspire you.
Two of my favorites are “Too blessed to be stressed” and “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.”
Some of the funniest, yet meaningful, quotes I’ve heard come from Yogi Berra, the famous catcher and manager of the New York Yankees. Yogi’s quotes are famous because they don’t make any sense, and yet we all know exactly what he meant to say. His malapropisms are legendary and hilarious.
The other day I was reading an article by Jim Gerwech, editor at large for Running Times Magazine. He was commenting on how fast the sport of running is growing. He used Yogi’s quote “It gets late early out there” to describe how quickly the popular race events are selling out.
For the top events locally and around the world, one must now plan months in advance, determine the day registrations are accepted online and then register within a few days or all the slots will be filled.
On several recent occasions, I’ve opted for smaller venues on the weekends of the overly popular runs and can understand perfectly Yogi’s quote , “Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded!”
As I was reading through Yogi’s book of quotes entitled “I Really Didn’t Say Everything I Said,” I realized how many of his quotes aptly apply to the sport of running.
For example, with so many folks taking up running as a stress relief and a time out to recharge, “Ninety percent of this game is half mental” can take on new meaning for all runners.
Running long in the hot summer is a humbling experience and requires even the fittest runners to slow the pace down considerably. This can be disheartening, and I think Yogi must have understood when he said, “It isn’t the heat, and it’s the humility.”
As I continue to run marathons in states I have never visited before, I have noticed that my mind tends to compare scenery from one state to another. I will come around a corner in a place I have never been and my mind will retrieve a memory and tell me “Oh, this is like Des Moines,” or “Nashville looks like this,” or “This is similar to the view in Abilene.” It happens so often in each event that I can really grasp Yogi’s concept of “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
Sometimes as I get close to the finish and I am totally spent and exhausted. Yogi’s quote “It’s not that far, it just seems like it is” really hits home. And inevitably in every race, with a mile or two to go, some well wishing bystander will yell out something to the effect “You did it, the finish is just ahead!”
It is at this point I always shake my head, force a smile, and say Yogi’s famous quote “It isn’t over until it’s over” as I struggle for the next 15-20 minutes just to keep going.
Many times when we are running a new trail in the forest preserve or in a small venue with poor course markings, I have experienced the feeling of “We’re lost but we’re making good time” and “You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going ‘because you might not get there.” (It is especially bad when both quotes are meaningful at the same time!)
Yogi’s humorous wisdom shines brightly for all of us when he said “You can observe a lot by just watching,” and “The future isn’t what it used to be.” But I think my favorite Yogism, especially for us runners, is “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” I like it the best because if we are running when we come to the fork in the road, no matter which path we choose, we’ll still be headed for fitness, well being, peace and maybe a few laughs. “Run happy or not at all!” (That is my quote)
P.S. “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be” (Yogi Berra), and we would not have Yogi’s wisdom to entertain us.
