Why Do Runners Smile?

Thursday's MDL runs the team photo of DSU's cross-country runners. Those 16 men and 9 women are all smiling. Why the smiles? Usually we see athletes staring grimly into the camera, as if they were shipping off to war. Football players and wrestlers in particular put on what is oddly called "the game face," as if coached never to show any hint of joy at the great physical feats in which they are engaged.

Not so the Trojan runners. They show in their faces the joy that ought to accompany being young, healthy, and physically active. Their smiles seem to recognize that they are engaged in one of the great diversions of human civilization: healthy, passionate competition that doesn't result in death or destruction. Sure, their faces might not look as gleeful around mile 5 as they fight a 30-mile-per-hour headwind on a 30-degree October morning. But in this photo, the DSU runners show us the true joyful spirit that should infuse all athletic competition. Keep smiling, team, and run hard!