Rumor has it that Kleiner ran the Top of Utah marathon today. Is this true? If so, most impressive! Excellence in soul and body.
Rumors of athletic prowess
Rumor has it that Kleiner ran the Top of Utah marathon today. Is this true? If so, most impressive! Excellence in soul and body.
USUPhilosophy 
It’s been confirmed! He finished in a shade under 5 hours. Well done, Kleiner!
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Prowess, no. But yes, I ran it. My time was not much to boast about. My running style and pace can best be described as “plodding”. It was a bit discouraging to consider, upon my crossing the 13 mile halfway mark, that the elite runners would be finishing soon. Around that time I tried to remind myself that the first ever marathoner (Pheidippides – a Greek soldier who ran 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens to tell them about a military victory over the Persians), upon finishing the run dropped dead on the spot. I was pretty sure my day was going to go better than his.
Anyway, all a part of being a good Aristotelian Holdout. Aristotle thinks there are 3 kind of human excellence: 1) Excellence of the intellect and 2) Excellence of character and 3) Excellence of the body. All three are required for eudaimonia. I defend Aristotle enough, I thought I ought not be hypocritical about it! (now to work on intellectual and moral excellence!).
Long distance running is, in my experience, a lot like long distance cycling (about which Huenemann knows a thing or two). Of course one needs pretty good fitness to run (or bike) a long way like this. But it is also a very difficult mental exercise. It is very easy to want to give up and walk (I didn’t, I ran the whole way – albeit slowly – so I am proud of that). I saw a sign along the way that said “Running doesn’t build character, it reveals it.” At that time it seemed true – though I was worried about what would be revealed!
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Well done indeed! I certainly wish I had the mental prowess to hold on to running for 5 hours, let alone over 26 miles. Very impressive. Congrats Kleiner!!
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Good job.
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