Who’s signed up for their local Turkey Trot tomorrow? A show of hands, please. Nice, very nice. Yeah, me too — the boy and I are doing the short loop, 5K, which is just the right distance to feel like you’ve accomplished something should you desire to park it on the couch for the rest of the day but not so long that your pins can’t still go out and hang together for a nice, really long leisurely run. Which you will probably want to do after watching this video.

It’s an animated short by an artist named James Jarvis, and I have to confess that I posted it here almost two years ago, which I don’t ever do. But there’s a whole bunch of readers who are here now who weren’t here then, and it remains my favorite bit of running inspiration ever. I know, crazy, right, that a little cartoon could inspire you to run? But Jarvis is a long-distance runner, and he knows the “transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running.” Watch and see if you agree.

Tagged as: running