Sometimes it pays to ask for directions. My wife, Jenny, recently gave me a GPS navigation unit – not the kind you run with but the kind for your car. Plug in your destination, and the GPS calculates directions. Mine had a name (Jack) and a voice that talks you through the directions. I was so excited to go on my first test-drive with Jack. I punched in my destination – my son’s house – and eagerly waited for Jack to figure out how to get there. Of course, I knew the way. I simply wanted to have some fun…

Here is an early Penguin Chronicle that may help to put the whole “Penguin phenomenon” into perspective. As you can tell from the tone of the column, no one was more surprised by how this started than me. From time to time I get insights into how my life is changing – and how running has become the change agent. Those of you who, by nature or by training, are better tuned to your own psyches may scoff at the density of my awareness. Be reminded that I have been no more inclined to be open with myself than I…

We can’t all be world record holders, but we can certainly think like one. One of the fringe benefits of writing this column is that I get to meet so many great people. Some are ordinary people who are changing their lives, or the lives of those they care about, through running. Some are among the sport’s true elites. Of this latter category, one runner I’ve met stands out: Steve Jones. Jonesy – as he is known by many – was the marathon and half-marathon world record holder during the mid-1980s, and he’s still the British marathon record holder. Even…

I may waddle when I run, but I’m running all the same. The late Dr. George Sheehan, beloved “Runner’s World” columnist and arguably the first running boom’s premier philosopher, once wrote that the difference between a runner and a jogger was a signature on a race application. (For the youngsters out there, there was a time before online registration when you actually filled out a paper application, signed it, attached a check, and mailed it in. Quaint, I know.) As succinct as Dr. Sheehan’s definition was, it made the point. If you were motivated enough to train for and participate…

You don’t have to be an elite athlete to understand the Olympic spirit. Have I ever mentioned that I have the greatest job in the world? It’s true. I get to participate in the best races around the globe and meet running royalty from the past and present. There are times I look around and have to pinch myself and think: Yes, I am part of a seminar panel that includes the likes of Bill Rodgers, Steve Scott, Deena Kastor, and Khalid Khannouchi. I can hardly believe a back-of-the-packer like me could share a stage with such talent. Of all…

Before there were “The Penguin Chronicles” a friend and I, Lee Alsbrook, wrote a column called “The Recess Bell” for a local newspaper. This is one of those early columns. December has always been a strange time of year for me. In addition to the holidays, my birthday is in December and so this month has become a watershed in my year and in my life. This was the month that society granted me important permissions. In December I became old enough to drive, old enough to get married, old enough to vote, and old enough to drink. I also…

To keep running well, sometimes you have to be your own mechanic. Having spent part of my professional career fixing motorcycles for a living, I know a lot of mechanics. The good ones have a whole arsenal of tools, some of which are so specialized in function that they hardly ever make it out of the toolbox. But on those rare occasions when a double-headed, reversible, ratcheting, 90-degree Phillips screwdriver is called for, these guys know that nothing else will do the job. Of course, I also know mechanics who think the only three tools you need are WD-40, duct…

This is the original, unedited Penguin Chronicle. The Penguin Chronicles :: March 1995 :: You may be a Penguin I can see the finish line, and I feel an emotional rush that transforms me from a mere mortal into a mythical creature with winged feet. Well, OK, maybe not winged feet. How about a mythical creature with webbed feet? Forget eagles and sparrows, it’s time to celebrate the power of penguins. The runner as Penguin? No way!! Gazelles, Cheetahs, thoroughbreds. The metaphors for runners always seem to conjure up images of fleet footed creatures moving swiftly across the landscape barely…

John Bingham looks forward to what lies ahead as his career as a columnist comes to a close. All good things must come to an end, or so they say. The truth I’ve learned is that all things, good and bad, come to an end. In life, as in marathons, there are good patches and bad patches—and neither last forever. And so it is that this is my last official column. Beginning in May 1996 with the first “Penguin Chronicles” in Runner’s World Magazine, through various title changes and magazine placements, I have been writing for, and writing to, a running community…