An Affinity Between Mastery of Craft and Running

Running takes many forms. Over the years, I’ve spoken with countless runners about what drives them to lace up and move. Each story is like a fingerprint — deeply personal, yet strangely universal.

Craft is no different. We bring our voice, our history, and our passion to the work. Mastery, in either pursuit, isn’t achieved overnight. It’s long and often quiet. There are no shortcuts, no room for illusion. Just consistent, deliberate effort. The willingness to explore, refine, and let the soul guide the hand, or the stride, is what gives both running and craft their meaning.

As makers and runners, we live within the journey. The practice itself is the transformation. Craft shapes ideas and raw materials into authentic expressions that offer us a connection with the objects and belongings in our lives. There is beauty in something made by hand. It carries meaning. It resonates.

And, like craft, honest and genuine running resists efficiency. It’s unpredictable. Intuitive as much as instructional. Even the best training plans falter when life intervenes. We adapt. We recommit. And in that recalibration, we move closer to something that resembles excellence — our unique version of it.