Runner’s World+ Member: Dave Stauffer
Dave is a Runner’s World+ member. Join him and thousands of others chasing their goals with day-by-day training plans, expert advice from editors and coaches, and unlimited digital access. We regularly feature members online and in print!
Nothing in my life has changed me as much as running has...not schooling, not travel, not even marriage (presuming my wife doesn’t see this, though I dare say she would agree). The change results from collegial competition. I’ve made friends across the U.S. with runners in my age group who show up again and again for the same races that I enter. The dynamics of this longstanding competition are multilayered and energizing. When I don’t want to get out of bed at 5 or 6 a.m. for a sunrise run, I envision Carl or Mark or Ken getting out of bed for THEIR sunrise run. That’s the motivation I need. I look forward to seeing my competitors. I want them to stay healthy and to run their best. They make me faster. And they make me a more compassionate person, a better person, because I like them and enjoy their company no matter which of us wins on any particular day.
I don’t usually jump at an offer to join a source of running information and commentary. I examine any such offer in detail, and mostly I choose not to join. RW+ is one of the few exceptions. Its most appealing feature for me is its focus on the experienced, well informed runner.
1. I run to stay physically and mentally healthy. I have a generally positive outlook on all aspects of life, even those associated with the progression of age. In what other activity could I look forward to the prospect of turning 70 and being the youngest in a new age group?
2. I run for the thrill of the start line, when I’m stoked to the max with unburned energy; when I zip through my pre-race routine while observing the unique routines of others; when all the work of past months is only minutes from payoff.
3. I run for “self-actualization,” the highest of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, where we rise to our full potential.
I usually run in the late morning. Being a freelance writer for my paid career, I had the flexibility to choose any time of day, and late morning best suited me. But there are times when very early morning works best or is most appealing, and I’m always impressed with how an early a.m. run seems to make the rest of the day long and productive.
Living in a northern Rockies mountain town, everywhere I run is gorgeous and inspiring. The best is the Beartooth All-American Road, 12 miles from home, often rated among the top drives in the U.S. Closer for day-to-day running is the high school track, with three different mountain ranges in view as direction changes circling the track.
I can’t separate myself from my Garmin Forerunner 305. It’s umpteen years old and not near as accurate as newer watches, including my Forerunner 245. But—call it superstition or perhaps stubbornness—when everything’s on the line in a goal race, the 305 is on my wrist.
Always goal: Stay healthy. Annual goal: I met my 2019 goal—finishing the Chicago Marathon as first American in my age group—and haven’t yet set my goal for 2020.
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