FOR THE LOVE OF THE RACE
Cathy Winter

I am no athlete, I'm not sleek and fine,
But when I put on my running shoes.
I think the whole world is mine.
I don't finish first and I don't finish last
But I feel such joy when my heart pumps so fast.

chorus
The winner's not the one who takes the first place,
But the one who runs for the love of the race.

I am no athlete; I started once 'round the block -
I huffed and I puffed,
I thought my heart would stop.
But I did it each day, first one block than four.
It wasn't my plan; I just kept adding more.

I run on the sidewalks sometimes on the lawns.
I used to run in the evening
When the sun was going down.
Now I get up early and run with the dawn.
The start of my day is just five miles long.

My children think I'm crazy
And I don't know my place,
But each day I run back the years,
That have left their deep trace.
So I run for my tomorrows and I set my own pace.

Now a marathon's coming and I think I might try
To run for the distance with others who know why
When the marathon's over, I won't say I'm done,
'Cause you finish one race and another's begun.

on Cathy Winter's album "Breath on my Fire", Flying Fish Records, 1984