Brad Popple on Running

I met Brad a few years back and was instantly drawn to his love of running and his dedication to the sport. Below is a bit of Brad’s thoughts about the sport of running.

Tomorrow, I will profile Brad. He is a very interesting person and I think you will enjoy reading about him and his past and future.

Running is for everyone. I hope to be a steward of the activity. I’ve seen it’s beauty. To me, running is a blank canvas. It can be many different things for many different people. That’s the beauty of running. When you are out there on the roads, trails, track, or treadmill, your run is whatever you make it. Running doesn’t care about your race, background, or bank account. It doesn’t care about your pace, distance, or how many times you stop to walk. It’s the exploration of the human soul through movement in its most primal way.The art of running and my relationship with it has metamorphized through the years. Once, a form of escapism. I found meaning in myself in my running, and later it became a lifeline for my depression—a way to deposit the anger, fear, and demons. Presently, running is The Great Adventure. Particularly when competing in Ultramarathons. You are taken to a place physically and mentally few go to. A place where you are stripped of all ego and pride. Alone in the woods, seventy-five miles into a hundred-mile race, with vomit caked onto your shoes, and where every foot fall is agony. You find out who you really are. It’s these moments I chase. The moments where you’re bankrupt physically, and you have to find emotional timbers to fuel your fire.Understanding this relationship with running has ameliorated other areas of my life. It has allowed me to be a better musician. Dismantling my once superficial intentions with music and finding pure and honest joy in it. The punk songs I now play are screams of passion and not pain. It has also allowed me to be a better ambassador for running. I know most runners (even those who refute that title) face those same demons daily on their runs. Probably not ultra-marathons, but they too are finding a bit of themselves as they round the block back home or hit the last few strides on their 5k. Running, no matter how fast or far, has the power to change lives.