Artist Statement

Josh Watson

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift” - Pre

Running is the perfect metaphor for life. Within both, one faces great adversity, and great success. The path ahead maybe right in front of us, and other times we make out own way. There is a beginning, and also an end. The body, mind and soul are all and always tested. Steve “Pre”fontaine's quote stated above, arguably his most memorable, touches upon the same thing that running and life represent, and each is that gift. As humans, with have the gracious gift of both, the ability to live, and the ability to run, each helping the other in countless ways. We only receive one chance of life, and thus we should not waste any second of it with the mundane or redundancy of the modern day trials. We challenge ourselves to overcome them, and also face other dreams, wishes, and even hurdles that are in our way, no matter big or small. We should live in the hope that at the end of the day, life, we can proudly say without blemish or regret, “I have finished the race.”

This year long running log is my starting point in tying the connection between the two entities, and representing a means for anyone, no matter the skill level or experience in running, to have a way of tracking their progress and to push themselves to limits far beyond than what they can imagine. My goal was to highlight what running is, and how each person can identify and define their own meaning, for such like life, each person is their own and unique perspective and experience, so each moment will be different for the user. There is no such thing as the perfect training log of how to run, but this log is different in a way that it approaches running, or life. Throughout the pages is a quote, inspiration piece, or fact about running, and how it touches upon the pillars of human experience and levels of enlightenment. The user gains insight of their own identity, sharing moments and understanding the community around them, and also touching upon the higher levels of spirituality. All of these can be approached to be answered by the means of running. This log by no means holds the answers, but only proposes the question. All you have to do to find these answers is run.