The guy who said it was a “miracle that he had the courage to start” is full of crap. Courage has nothing to do with starting a road race, and he’s a fool to push that slogan on new runners. Today I want to talk to you about the rationality of fear. Specifically, with regards to “the fear of running a road race”, and perhaps especially “the fear of running your FIRST road race”, IS IT RATIONAL FOR US TO BE AFRAID? But before we go there, we should contrast this fear of the inaugural race with perhaps the greatest fear among the average mortal is that ultimate universally dreaded topic of trepidation that haunts Tolstoys Ivan Ilyich and shrieks terror into the hearts of the unwashed masses; that condition that all of us will one day expire into marking the eternal end to our physical existence: DEATH If death is the worst thing that people fear…then when we step back and consider the rationality of fearing a road race…I think the perspective will support my argument that being afraid of running your first race is not appropriate. To quote the US President Franklin Roosevelt: “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself”. Less