V 14 N. 28 Some Spirited Writing and Old Track Photos

 

I've recently discovered a writer James Runcie who has some serious gifts with the pen.  His series on an Anglican priest named Sidney Chambers has been turned into a British TV detective series called "Grantchester".   The book I'm currently reading is "The Great Passion" a novel about the German composer Johan Sebastian Bach and his composing of the St. Matthew Passion.   "Why" you ask "does this have any place on a track and field blog?"  My answer is that Runcie occasionally throws in sayings and metaphors that could only come from someone who has had some experience, no matter what the level, with the world of track and field or distance running.   So as I promised earlier, I will continue to send some old photos your way and throw in some of James Runcie's quotes from "The Road to Grantcheser" (RTG) and "The Great Passion." (TGP).  I've also thrown in quotes from a variety of other writers.

“to find stillness in the middle of movement.”― James Runcie, Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the

Night                                                         

Pat Daniels Winslow

Lucinda Williams

RTG P. 151  "It's meant to be.  But you don't have to do everything all at once.  People don't become marathon runners or surgeons or concert pianists overnight.  You need training.  And you can always apply and see how it goes.  If it is not for you then you'll know soon enough.  You can always go on and do something else, Olympic swimming, perhaps..... 

Hans Harting and Wim Slijkhuis 

“I don’t mean religious faith. I mean faith in our own abilities. We have to do the best we can with the talents we have, Geordie. The future is too unpredictable for anxiety.”
― James Runcie, Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death

Wim Slijkhuis and hardware

                               “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

                                                                            — Tim Notke

Elias Gilbert

“The race was not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, he told himself. Time and chance happened to them all, and it was vital, above all, to hold a steady course.”

— James Runcie

Kathy and I watched the entire Grantchester series and loved it although we could never figure out why an Anglican vicar was always helping to solve murders.  Most certainly James Runcie was a runner.  His quotes are worthy of Grantchester.

   I loved the picture of Elias Gilbert although I have seen pictures of him completely flattened out over the hurdles.  Either this picture was early in his career or a split second before he collapsed atop the hurdles.  

   Just like almost every NFL player was at one time a T&F athlete, the same can be true for so many others not in athletics.  Maybe it was just a grade school field day, but almost all of us gave this sport a try and found it more difficult than we anticipated.  Bill Schnier

Coach Wehrner, the Ashenfelters and Curtis Stone

Some coaching advice?

TGP  P. 131   'When we think of the behavior of other people,' he began,  'we have to remember that almost everyone is frightened of something.  It might be a confrontation that we are worried about, a piece of work, a continuing illness or the death of a friend, but we should keep in mind that if nothing lasts in this world then the very thing that we dread the most cannot last either.  All things must pass.   The moment we have feared approaches.  It takes place.  Then it becomes the past:  and only a memory.  So, rather than dreading the moment, perhaps we should look forward to the memory of it instead?  We must learn to think beyond our fears.  Perhaps you are too young to contemplate this, but one day; I promise, you will understand.'

Bruce Dern  U. Penn

“All this front’s a bluster. I spend most of my life acting.’ ‘I think we all do that; we play different parts depending who we are with and the situation we are in.’ ‘But don’t you ever want life to just stop, Sidney?”
― James Runcie, Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins: Grantchester Mysteries 4

Barbara Brown

“I can’t allow myself to tire. I’ve already run off the cliff. I just have to keep remembering not to look down.”

— James Runcie

Iffley Road Plaque

                               “Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.”

                                                                             — Anonymous

                                                    

                                                               Don Bowden in high school

“I like it when no one knows what I’m going to do next. It makes everything more exciting.”

— James Runcie

                                       

“Autumn was his favourite time of year, not simply for its changing colours but for the crispness in the air and the sharpness of the light. As the leaves fell the landscape revealed itself, like a painting being cleaned or a building being renewed. He could see the underlying shape of things. This was what he wanted, he decided: moments of clarity and silence.”

— James Runcie

RTG P. 154 '.....But if it feels that you should be doing it, then you must carry on and see where it takes you.  It's almost impossible to know what God has in store for us or who we are going to become.  That's part of life's journey.  If we knew all along, life would be so predictable that it wouldn't be worth living.'

RTG P. 15    "The Lieutenant Colonel argues that the infantry is ultimately about hand-to-hand combat.  It's all about the battle for the 'next hundred yards'.  In junior athletics, Kendall had run that distance in thirteen seconds.  Now, he says it's going to take them a week to cover the same length of ground."

Texas Longhorn team with Coach Clyde Littlefield, Publicity photo before

Texas Relays

“There was no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.”

— James Runcie

George,

I love reading these inspirational quotes and passages!!! Thank you for your continuous research and bringing them to light.   Carol Inskeep