Booker talks about how his jogs have helped his political perspective.

Question: How have sports shaped you?

Cory Booker: My younger days I always said my parents were good in ground me that sports would be my ticket, but not my destination and my athleticism did so much in building character, defining a lot of the trait that I admire of the most of myself revealing things that I needed to work on myself frankly, but most importantly opened up incredible doors of opportunity. So, to get a full scholarship to Stanford University, really for five years doing undergraduate masters degree that was incredible opportunity that opened up. So, I think that the some of the celebrity of my athletic career and me in high school all American and all like is really over blown. I was good solid athlete that used my skills to propel me into other things.

Question: How has running helped you in politics?

Cory Booker: Well, for me first of this are good thoughts is about running and now I drew my iPod in keep it well, so I can hear people talk to me, but it is time I used to just vision and see my city, not only as it is, but as it can be. I think the mind is a powerful tool that we always underestimate and what that vision the dreaming is such a powerful way to create reality in fact a dream is the only promise of what you can become or what a community can become, so I really focus energy where I am running about the beauty and about the wonder and see the genius of my community. It really helps me, I think motivates me to go towards that end. In addition to that I think that I love the reaction of people when they see their Mayor running through neighborhoods and they are not expecting to see me and it is exciting. I get people to rolled on their window and complain or rolled on their window and get excited and say you know “keep going Mayor, keep going” and or they roll down their window and tease me and say, “Mayor, you are moving slow.” So, connectivity, we are human beings and the worse that can happen when you get elected offices is that you start to live in a bubble, where the only people around you are your staff and administers and you have these sort of senatory interactions with human beings that out staged or controlled, I like to be out there, I like to mix my spirit with the spirit of other people in unscripted and unexpected ways and it is wonderful. So, whether if it is jogging early in the morning or on a night petrol with my police department, 3 o’clock in the morning, stopping residence and just saying hello, hay or the young people saying, “it is 3 o’ clock in the morning, what the heck you are out in the streets.” I want to be out there as much as I can and I try to structure my schedule to allow me to do that. Also just frankly it is a tough job, it is incredibly stressful, my stress response usually as to eat. So, in the more stressful times it is best the way to control my weight and get cartharsis as well.

Recorded: 3/11/08