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Reader question: Please explain “stay the course” in this sentence: “You can reach long-term goals if you stay the course.” My comments: In other words, if you go the distance you may win. Go the distance? Yes, go the full distance, not quitting midway. Take the “course” as the course of a river. The river zigzags its way from the mountains to the sea. Or the course of a car race, or horse race, or a running race, such as the marathon. Indeed, the marathon race is a good example of why it is important to “stay the race”. Unlike the 60-meter dash, which runs along a straight line, the marathon has a distance of 42.195 kilometers, covering different terrains. Like it is with the course of a river, the marathon has its twists and turns, sometimes over flat and smooth territory, sometimes over the hilly and the rough – at least that was the case in olden times when the race was run in the country. Even today, with the race run in the city on asphalt, the marathon course may still consist of slopes and sharp turns. At any rate, the course is so long and tortuous that it is impossible to predict its degree of difficulty from the onset. Hence the advice for one to “stay the course”, i.e. to persevere. Persevere, and that means keep doing what you do in spite of setbacks. There will be problems for in the marathon for different athletes. At the 20-km mark, for example, some may experience breathing difficulties, while others may be running out of legs. Some, finding the difficulties too painful to suppress, drop out. Others choose to persist and somehow, somewhere along the line, are able to get their wind back and get their legs under them again. These are ones who are able to finish the race. They are the ones who “stay the course.” | 
