“The best thing is to walk.” — Bruce Chatwin, from Anatomy of Restlessness.
I walk a lot nowadays, though once I could not think of a greater waste of time. It was boring, it seemed … aimless. Jogging, on the other hand, offered a payoff. You ticked off the kilometres and calories. Jogging appealed to the modern work ethic that took its cues from efficiency experts, whose compression of time during our working hours leaked into our leisure ones. Hurry up! Time’s a wastin’! Run!
I still jog but without the conviction I used to. Now when I see those committed runners lost in their earbuds and fervent with exertion, I get the uneasy feeling — one I have recognized in myself — that they hope to outrun death. I have news for them.
Here’s the full Vancouver Sun article by Pete McMartin.