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The RTS Column - Respect the Seuss

So what’s Dr Seuss got to do with running? Well when it comes to adopting a philosophical approach to our running RTS believes we can learn a lot from The Cat in the Hat.

At the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows, and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows, and no birds ever sing excepting old crows, is the street of………

 

…well, one of the most underrated philosophers of recent years.

 

I’m talking about Dr Seuss!

 

But what could children’s author Dr Seuss have to do with philosophy? Or running? Well let’s see what lies beyond the ludicrous creatures, tongue-tying alliteration and ridiculous rhyming.

The Cat in the Hat

 

Seuss is probably best known as the creator of The Cat in the Hat (1957), so let’s look at that work first.

Is this a study of reality and perception to rival that of the Wachowski Brothers’ film The Matrix?

A young boy and his sister, Sally, sit daydreaming one rainy day when The Cat enters their house and, despite warnings from their pet fish, is allowed to trash the place moments before their mother returns home. At the last second The Cat mysteriously clears the mess up and leaves.

Did the carnage really happen? Did The Cat actually exist? Could the boy and Sally be parallels of The Matrix’s ‘Neo’ and ‘Trinity’, their fish ‘Morpheus’ and The Cat ‘Agent Smith’?

 

So far, so bizarre! But what a lot of books there are!

Horton Hears a Who

 

In his 1954 book (and 2008 film) Horton Hears a Who Seuss again addresses reality and perception.

Horton, a young elephant, hears a scream from a speck of dust as it blows by and discovers a whole town (Whoville) of tiny people living on it. The other animals ridicule Horton for trying to save the invisibly tiny world from destruction.

Meanwhile, in Whoville the Mayor is ridiculed for talking to a giant elephant in the sky. The mayor claims that the elephant holds their fate in his hands. Or rather, trunk!

A bossy kangaroo confronts Horton, saying, “If you can't see it, feel it, or hear it, it doesn't exist". This reflects the great philosopher Aristotle’s belief that perception is reality.

 

The Kangaroo’s confrontation of Horton is comparable to the trial of Socrates, who was put to death for "poisoning the minds of the youth of Athens" in ancient Greece.

 

I know, this is a running website. Stick with me!

The Lorax

Written in 1971, The Lorax is a visionary warning of the strife facing the planet if mankind refuses to address environmental and ecological issues.

In the story the Once-ler chops down all the Truffula trees to knit Thneeds (a thneed’s a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need).Despite warnings from the Lorax, the Once-ler is eventually left in a barren, polluted landscape devoid of animals or plants.

 

A prophetic message appears in a paragraph near the end of the book, “And all that the Lorax left here in this mess was a small pile of rocks, with the one word UNLESS”. And Seuss penned this some thirty years before global warming became a hot topic!

 

Seuss also cleverly attacks discrimination and prejudice in The Sneetches, human stupidity and stubbornness in The Zax, and his short story Too Many Daves is, well, just plain funny.

But what did Seuss know about Running?

 

All very well, but what did Seuss know about running?

 

A year before his death, in 1990, he wrote a book that examines life’s balance between the ups and downs, the successes and failures, Yin and Yang.

Oh The Places You’ll Go takes five minutes to read but carries us through the wide range of emotions we experience with our running tribulations.

We train, run for fun, maybe race. Often our running is fantastic and successful within our personal expectations. But sometimes it isn’t! For no obvious reason we perform poorly and are left feeling dejected, although we shouldn’t.

This book is about surviving life (and for us, running) through philosophical approach, and although Seuss may never have been a runner, this book was written for us.

So think about your running, and think while you’re running, but don’t think too hard. Running is possibly the most important irrelevant thing we do.

 

I’m not aware that the good Dr had been a runner, but if he was then maybe (with apologies)…………

 

Runners here, runners there,

Runners running everywhere.

Some wear red and some wear blue.

This one wears a neutral shoe.

This one has a little blister.

This one’s slower than his sister.

This one’s toenails all fell out.

I wonder what that’s all about.

This one’s got a nasty stitch.

This one tumbled in a ditch.

This one uses vaseline to lubricate his feet.

He leaves a trail just like a snail as he runs down the street.

Some run fast and some run slow

It doesn’t matter where they go

Some run up and some run down,

Over hills and through the town

Would you, could you like to come

Would you, could you have some fun?

Would you, could you like to train?

Would you, could you in the rain?

Would you, could you in a gale?

Would you, could you in the hail?

Would you, could you in the fog?

Would you, could you with a dog?

Would you, could you in the sun?

Would you, could you have a run?

 

YES!

I would like to come.

Yes to some fun.

Yes I will train.

Yes in the rain.

Yes in a gale.

Yes in the hail.

Yes in the fog.

Yes with a dog.

Yes in the sun.

Yes to a run.

Lace up my trainers,

Lets have some fun.

 

Read some Seuss, you know you should. Seuss is mad, but mad is good.

 

Respect The Seuss.

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If you enjoyed this then Check out more from RTS.

 

Also take a look at RTS's book "Life on the Run; Coast to Coast"

 

 Rated 5* on Amazon, read the reviews

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