Dads on the Run

In the spirit of this past Father's Day weekend, now seems as good a time as any to write about Dads on the Run.

I remember as a little kid trying to out-race my dad. Are dads supposed to let their kids win? Mine didn't, and I would feel mad when he beat me. But come to think of it, I don't let our son, Mitchell, beat me. Maybe it's a guy thing?

My big sister, Ellen, whose father and husband and little brother (me) all are dads, doesn’t run. But Ellen says she thinks it's cool that I get so much out of my running. She never let me beat her in running races as a kid, either. Maybe I was just really slow.

My dad's nearly 80 now. He had a knee replacement last year. So now I finally can beat him in a foot race. I think. Maybe I should challenge him to a race. Although I'm still too tired from running a Father's Day race in Scranton on Sunday, so maybe I should wait a while.

Growing up, I was very close with my mom, whom my dad had the good sense to marry. She passed away when I was in college, and since then I've often felt that my dad says things he thinks my mom would have said, but that I think she probably wouldn't. Like when he worries about my running.

He says I run too much. He doesn't like when I run at night. He thinks I should gain weight. He worries that I'll get hurt from running.

But he also sounds proud when we talk about my running races, and I feel that it's brought us a bit closer together. He asks about my races, and he proudly tells people my marathon results.

However, I don't think I've done a good enough job at communicating when I've tried to explain why running is so meaningful and important to me. And maybe he doesn't do a good enough job at listening?

Regardless, a few months ago I hit upon an idea. My dad still works as a food broker spending much of his workday in his car, so I got him a book on tape to listen to while he drives. The book I picked is What I Talk about When I Talk about Running by Haruki Murakami.

I knew he'd listen to it since I got it for him. It's a book I enjoyed that I think expresses well what goes on inside the head of a runner.

It wasn't a panacea for father-son bonding, but to some degree I think it did the trick as intended. It served as kind of a spring-board to enable us to talk in greater depth about running, and he seems to have a better sense of why running is such an important force in providing more joy and balance in my life.

I've now been running for about four years, and as the Dad of two incredible children, of course both of the kids are following directly in my footsteps.

Well, to be more precise, our daughter Sabrina says "I hate running!" and "it's so boring." Sabrina's a competitive swimmer, and apparently swimming laps is far more exciting!

But since Sabrina is a competitive spirit, last month she decided to run a Central Park Reservoir Race for a school challenge that would get her name on a board at school forever (or at least for the next year or so) if she could run the 1.57 miles in under 11 minutes (6:58/mile).

Lucky me, I got to be Sabrina's pacer as about 50 kids, faculty, staff and parents turned out! She gave it everything she had, and came close, finishing in 11:48 (7:30/mile). It was our first race together, and perhaps our last. But that's okay. I won't impose my running on her if she won't impose her swimming on me.

Now on the other hand, Mitchell, our 10-yr-old, is firmly committed to his running future. Not that he actually runs. He plays hockey and is learning martial arts. But he does declare that he plans on running.

In the fall, Mitchell says he'll try out for his school track club. Maybe he will. That would be cool. Or cool if he doesn't. We all have to find our own stuff that we love to do. But, for now, I can quietly hold out some hope that he'll take up running and that we'll race together one day. Of course, I don't expect he'll let me win.

In the meantime, Mitchell had a blast handing out Power Gels at the Flyers gel station at the NYC Marathon. And he's enjoyed running the past few years in the Ronald McDonald House Charity Fun Run the day before each NYC Marathon.

Big news is that last month, my wife Liz started running. After just a few weeks of training, we even ran the Japan Day race together.

This is us at the Japan Day Run, June 2010

Like me with my mom, both of our kids are especially close with Liz. So my latest fantasy is that they may emulate her running even if my own running doesn't inspire.

And then maybe, just maybe, I'm thinking that one day we'll become the Kleckner Family Runners! Kind of like the Von Trapp Family singers in The Sound of Music who not only sang, but were quite speedy running across the Alps (though I suppose having Nazis chasing close behind didn't leave those Von Trapps much choice). But I digress.

Well, whether it's with my family or not, I expect running will remain an important part of my life for years to come. And I like to think that the happiness I derive from my running helps me to be a better person, a better dad, a better son, and a better spouse. If this is true, then I have something to celebrate every time I go out for a run!

Now run along dads. But please blog back with your own Dads on the Run stories when you get a chance. I hope you all had a great Father's Day. - Dave K.