The Endless Loop
Running repeated loops on long runs and watching Groundhog Day seven times in one day.
This weekend I’ll be vending at Charleston Zine Fest! Come see me at the Halsey Institute on Sunday, August 4, from 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM. I’ll have copies of Death Wish, various Peregrine Coast Press leftovers, and the very new Running on Sentences: Volume 1 (May - June 2024)! I had a lot of fun converting the first six issues of my newsletter into a print zine. ]
If you are a paying subscriber, I’ll be sending you a personalized copy so stay tuned for an email from me about this!
On Groundhog Day in 2019, I participated in the annual Groundhog Day Marathon at the Roxy Theater in Missoula, MT. Anyone who completed the challenge — watching Groundhog Day seven times in one day without interruptions — would win free movies and popcorn for a year.
The prize allured me; I went to see a movie at least once a week and I always got popcorn. The movie theater was, and still is, one of my happy places. When I need to get away after a hard time or I need something to lift my spirits, one of my favorite things to do is go see a movie by myself.
In the days before February 2, 2019, I told friends I was doing the challenge, inviting them to join me at various screenings throughout the day to keep up my morale. I anticipated boredom and lethargy as I watched it again and again and again and again and again and again.
Wearing comfy clothes and carrying a reusable water bottle, I arrived at the theater at 9:30 AM, settling in first screening at 10:00 AM. Before the day of the challenge, I had never seen the movie before. By the end of the day, I had seen Groundhog Day seven times and walked out of the theater with free movies and popcorn for an entire year.
Each screening — despite it being the same movie — was a little bit different. Friends joined me at different points throughout the day, and with each additional screening, my fellow daylong Groundhog Day watchers started participating in the movie. Each screening brought something different: collective anticipatory “ahhhhhhhh” as the clock flipped to 6:00 AM, everyone reciting all of Ned Ryerson’s lines, and all kinds of whooping and hollering. If you’ve ever been to a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a shadowcast it was kind of like that, except without the shadowcast and very improvised. At one point, the Roxy’s management asked us to quiet down so we wouldn’t disturb moviegoers in other theaters.
There was a pleasant monotony in watching Groundhog Day seven times in a row. The movie is genuinely good. It wasn’t like I was watching some 80s b-movie over and over all day (and don’t get me wrong, I love 80s b-movies, but I don’t think I could do an all day marathon of Slumber Party Massacre II).
There’s a pleasant monotony in running, too, especially when running loops.
Loops are necessary evil (depending on who you ask) of really long runs, because running loops allows you to re-fuel, re-hydrate, and go to the bathroom as needed. Each time I pass my starting point, there’s a chance to take a short break before heading back out again.
I used to hate routes that repeated or doubled-back. When I was running shorter distances, out-and-backs were my enemy. Having to see the same scenery more than once on a single run? No thanks. The same could be said for my 3-4 mile loops now — or the dreaded track, a micro-loop. In cross country, my favorite courses were loops because I didn’t have to repeat any part of the course, but as my long runs have gotten longer, I’ve been running more repeated loops.
Just like in anticipation of the Groundhog Day marathon, I feared being bored. But I’m learning that running is kind of boring. Even if I’m listening to music, I’m alone with my thoughts as they wander around, trying to make sense of the hours on my feet, trying to keep me occupied.
But boredom isn’t a bad thing.
I think of my normal neighborhood loop. It’s only one mile and I run it a few times a week. When I started training for the marathon, I tried hard to avoid the loop as much as I could — or modify it in some way so I wouldn’t get so bored. I realized a few things, though:
It’s really nice to know how far I’ve run without having to look at my watch
Even though I run the loop so much, it’s different each time
Learning to be bored and resting in my thoughts is incredibly valuable
Each time I pass through, I see something different. Sometimes it’s wildlife, like the tiny crabs or the turtle from a few weeks ago. Sometimes I wave and say hello to the older woman who walks her Great Pyrenees, who she has dubbed “the neighborhood greeter.” Sometimes my mind wanders from loop-to-loop, lap-to-lap. Sometimes I write a short story in my head, editing and revising as I go until it’s ready for me to type up when I finally get home.
I thought I would need something to listen to for all of these long runs, but I’ve found that the sound of my breath and feet hitting the pavement is comforting. I like knowing that my body is working, that I can do something so difficult.
When I think of Groundhog Day, I think about how it didn’t matter how many times I saw the movie because “Ned! Ryerson! Needle-nosed Ned, Ned the head, come on buddy, Case Western High! Ned Ryerson!” made me (and the entire theater) laugh. Every single time.
When I’m running my neighborhood loop, I smile each time I pass by the dock that looks over the marsh. In the loops I run while at group training, I try to spot a new name and new death date on the headstones each time I pass by the cemetery (I did try holding my breath so the ghosts don’t get me, but I failed).
The training runs are only getting longer, but I can still find something new each time I run past the same scenery. And if the scenery doesn’t change, maybe I have. Maybe I’m a little faster than I was, maybe I’m a little more confident, maybe a little more energized. Maybe I’m feeling sluggish, but then I see the neighborhood cat and can power through the rest of the run.
Maybe when I finish the last loop of my fourteen mile run this weekend all I’ll be able to think about is what it is like to experience the same thing over and over, but a little bit different each time.
"Learning to be bored and resting in my thoughts is incredibly valuable."
👏
I always need to hear this.
"the sound of my breath and feet hitting the pavement is comforting,...And if the scenery doesn’t change, maybe I have"
You're learning to be present, I love that! Keep going.