Written in light of recent events, but without naming them. Attention is their oxygen. Some things don’t deserve the extra spotlight they crave.

Pain was always part of it. I’ve never met a runner who runs solely to feel comfortable. Not really.

We run because it hurts — because that hurt opens something in us that the rest of life keeps shut. It reminds us we’re alive. And human.

Everyone who runs long enough will get to know it. It’s honest. Uncompromising. It tells us when...