Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Fourteen years ago today, I began running in earnest. I had run 318.04 miles during the preceding four years, but never more than a couple of miles at a time. On 14 September 1996, at the instigation of my friend Joe, I began training for my first marathon. I haven't let up. As of today, I have run 9,061.22 miles. That means I have run 8,743.18 miles in 14 years. That's an average of 1.70 miles per day (I counted the three leap years), 11.96 miles per week, and 624.5 miles per year. I was 39 years old when I began running and am 53 now. Running is so completely woven into my life that I find it difficult to imagine life without it.