On Tuesday, June 20, Illinois State Governor, Bruce Rauner, held a press conference to speak to the citizens of Illinois and called State legislators back to Springfield for a Special Session. The goal of this “bonus period” is for the State to pass a budget, and hopefully, avoid the financial demise that has been predicted, if the state enters another fiscal year without a budget.
The State of Illinois could potentially enter its third year operating without a budget and processing payments by way of court orders. While our surrounding states are luring residents with low property taxes and plentiful job opportunities, our State leaders are having a hard time playing nice in the sandbox.
As I was reading the articles detailing the Governor’s press conference and the Special Session, I began to think about how the State would be operating if runners were in charge. If nothing else, it was a nice distraction from the absurdity that is Illinois politics.
Runners are precise. We value high quality work. We do not cut corners because, hey, we want that 0.1 of a mile logged in our trackers. We circle the cone at the turn around, rather than cutting our route short and we make laps around our house to reach an even mile mark at the end of our run.
Runners are fast, not only on the road, but in life. I always find myself thinking that the faster I get the load of laundry put away or the last memo typed, the faster I can get into my running shoes and hit the trails.
Runners are planners. If I do not lay out my running gear the night before, it is a million times harder to get out the door. Not only do I plan my clothing, I also plan my route, checking to make sure that the mileage I will log fits into my mileage plan for the week and month.
Runners are dedicated. It always seems like a great idea to sign up for that half marathon when you are sitting at home in your comfy clothes in front of the computer. But, when the night before a big race comes, most of us question that great motivation that once drove us to type our t-shirt size and emergency contact into the registration form. However, runners do not quit.
We will show up to that race, no matter how early, and we will cross that start line, tackling the course. While we have all struggled with the occasional DNF, the reality is, runners finish most of the races they sign up for. Maybe we finish with a slower time than we would have wanted, but we finish.
Runners are kind and compassionate. You only need to run one organized race to realize this. Runners motivate and encourage each other to meet goals, hit PR’s and even finish races. I’ll never forget tripping over a tree trunk during the last Ice Age Trail race I ran, and having a fellow runner stop to help me up and ask if I was ok. We have all been the one falling over our feet and the one helping someone up during a race. Never have I run past a runner that needed help, nor have I ever been run past.
Runners are resourceful. If I have to be stranded on a desert island, I want to be with a runner because, chances are, he/she will have a power bar or gel stashed somewhere in their clothing and will have their eye on a form of hydration. Runners are always aware of their next hydration station, as well as their next porta potty or makeshift bathroom.
So, I suppose what all of this extremely biased analysis means is that I think runners should run the world! We’d sure get a lot done in a quick and efficient manner, taking into account the needs of others, and planning for the best long term outcome possible. Can you tell that I have a very high opinion of the running community?!?
