What’s Quan?
Don’t know. I’ve spent the last 30 minutes looking and all I’ve found are a reference to a rare Chinese family name and at the end of several Tai Chi and Kung Fu definitions. With no clear english definition, it means it’s open to interpretation. According to Rod Tidwell (a.k.a. Cuba Gooding Jr.), it means “love, respect, community and the dollars too.” To me, it means something totally different.

Quan is what we as runner’s do naturally – as natural as breeding offspring and reproducing for the survival of our species. The definition of “Quan” is spreading our love for running – inspiring others to share in our need to pound the pavement and paths. If we don’t, our species will die (I doubt it but I’m on a soapbox). Part of being a runner is to be an Ambassador of Quan. Getting an ex-jock back in the game or inspiring a couch potato to jog around the block, that’s our calling…that’s our “Quan”.

So Who’re It’s Ambassadors?
A one-legged brother? Roy Firestone? A militant TP? Troy Aikman or Tom Cruise? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. “Quan” has no barriers, no rules of possession or discrimination. It’s there for every runner/jogger/walker to spread like the wind to the masses. All you have to do is share a story, drag somebody out the door or ask somebody to join you.

Who’s Your Ambassador(s)?
As much as I’d love to say it was my dad, I truthfully cannot. He’s been a great inspiration for me since I started running but he wasn’t my “Ambassador”. In fact, I don’t even know my “Ambassador’s” name!!! All I remember is an image from a early December morning television broadcast of the Las Vegas Marathon in 2005. As I lay in my warm cozy bed next to my sleeping wife, I saw him. Not an image of grace and beauty or speed and athleticism. No, the man I saw trod across my television screen could have been my twin. A tall, overweight guy running the marathon. Although I will never know his name, he forever will be my Ambassador of Quan. At that moment, I told myself if that guy can do, then so can I.

Who were/are your Ambassadors of Quan?

Tags: Ambassadors of Quan, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jerry Maguire, Kung Fu, Las Vegas Marathon, Quan, Rod Tidwell, Roy Firestone, Tai Chi, Tom Cruise, Troy Aikman

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Oddballs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.