Nathaniel Givens started Difficult Run in November 2012. The name comes from this sign post, which he ran past every day on his way to work in northern Virginia.
It turns out that Difficult Run is the name of the stream that bridge runs over, but this didn’t originally occur to Nathaniel. (Who erects a sign for a creek?) Instead, it seemed to suggest the existential importance of trying to do hard things because they are hard.
This blog covers a wide variety of topics, from arts and entertainment to technology to religion, but the common thread through all of it is that this world is both a terrible and an awesome place, and that we can become either one of those ourselves if we choose to do so. That the difficulty of the run is not a bug. It’s a feature.
Mahonri, Monica, Robin, and Walker joined as contributing editors in August 2013.
Other Notes
The header image comes from Digital Blasphemy. Nathaniel Givens has been a paying member on-and-off for a few years, and use of images for non-commercial purposes is covered in my membership. Ryan Bliss’s work is excellent, and everyone should check it out.