Running

My name is David Ackerman.
I ran for my high school's cross country, winter track and spring track teams every year. Even though I feel like running is my favorite sport, the one which I have the most fun playing is soccer since people would never really want to have a pickup game of a 5k race.
My favorite athlete is Steve Prefontaine.
The phrase "philosophy of sport"is one that shows how sports are far more than games. They are ways to challenge one's self and others. This phrase is interesting to me because, being a runner, I am often asked "Why do you run? Its not even a sport." Without the idea presented by the phrase "philosophy of sport" I would not really have an answer. Running is in fact the purest sport there is. It pits one person against another, and more importantly, and more often, one person against him/herself. No equipment is necessary is for this sport, all that is needed is a little space and the ability to push yourself to your physical and mental limits as you try to overcome pain and exhaustion as you strive for a personal best. A success in running can belong to a whole team, an individual, both or sometimes neither. I feel as though running demonstrates the "philosophy of sport" as being the ability to compete in order to improve and reach personal levels of success. When it comes down to it, running isn't just a sport. The ideals and values learned through running are key to success in the sport and life in general. This idea of running being able to relate to life in terms of achieving success is perhaps best represented by one of the most famous quotes of one of the most prolific runners of all time, Steve Prefontaine, when he said "I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it."