“RUNNING ultramarathons (generally considered any race longer than the traditional marathon distance of 26.2 miles) has come to mean something much more to me than entering a race: it’s become more like a spiritual discipline’ – a deeply spiritual experience.”
Dr Mark Calder, Regional Manager for Scotland and the North of England of charity Embrace The Middle East, is talking about his interest with running around 100 miles on a regular basis, usually to raise funds for Embrace.
“It is certainly one of those disciplines that can be prayerful, transformative, perspective-altering, worshipful, reorienting, humbling, joyful, and sometimes elating. If spiritual means something like the overlap of all of these things, then yes, it’s spiritual.”