I run because I am a rule breaker..

I look both ways before crossing the street. I yield to pedestrians. I drive at a reasonable speed. Generally speaking, I follow the rules.

I pay my bills. I pay my taxes. I drive on the right side of the road. I stop at red lights. I avoid breaking the law.

I don't mind following most rules and obeying most laws provided they make sense and generally prevent society from devolving into complete chaos.

But, there's a part of me that yearns to break all of them. It's not that I want to cause problems and chaos. However, there's a part of me that questions everything. There's a part of me that accepts nothing on face value.

If you accept everything as it is, how can you change anything? How can you make anything better? How can you move forward?

Rules often seem to be about what you can't do. Rules are often about limits and I'm not a big fan of placing limits on things.

Sometimes you have to question the rules. Sometimes you have to challenge the rules. Sometimes you even have to break the rules.

It was once believed that it was humanly impossible to run a mile in under four minutes. Fortunately, Roger Bannister had the good sense to challenge this rule and found it to be bunk.

For a long time, it was believed that women were simply too fragile to run, let alone handle the demands of the marathon. It took the bold rule breaking of Kathrine Switzer at the Boston Marathon to prove this rule was bunk too.

Running is a wonderful way to break the rules. The act itself is an act of defiance. Each stride you take defies the law of gravity. Humans weren't designed to fly, but for a brief moment we do. If you want to be a rebel, run.

When you roll through town in a car or on a bike, you have to follow the designated path. The runner need not follow a designated path. Runners can blaze their own path, trail, or journey. There is no right side of the road when you run.

There's no speed limit with running. In fact, running slow is often frowned upon. Whereas running fast is glorified. If you have a penchant for breaking the speed limit, running might be your thing.

Running provides the opportunity every day to break the rules and challenge your limits. This isn't to say breaking the rules and challenging your limits will always succeed.

But, it's the only way I know of to move forward. I run because I am a rule breaker...