Running, a Great Way to Compete and Clear One's Mind

My father tricked me into running my first marathon at the tender age of 13. He claimed that he was in training and indeed, he was.

But, every time I was around and he went running he would ask me to go with him. So I would. I didn’t always want to but it was an opportunity to be with him and I didn’t see him much because he had six children on a schoolteacher’s income, which meant he had two or three jobs in the summer time. 

And so he trained. I went along occasionally. Then the night before his race he told me that he had signed me up too. I rolled my eyes.  “Dad, no really? I don’t know if I can do that.” 

“C’mon Cherie. You can do it. I know you can.”  I felt impressed by his confidence but it seemed way to far to go.

The next morning he woke me up at 4 a.m. and I debated within myself. Was this something I really wanted to do?  If I didn’t go I might feel like I had missed out on something. If I did go, then the worst thing that could happen was that I would have to walk some of the way. Ok, I would try it.

We got to the start of the race and I was very nervous because I hadn’t really prepared. But I didn’t really care that much because I was just there to show my dad support, really. Or so I told myself.

The gun went off and we started out. I stayed with dad for about the first six to seven miles and then the road started climbing up a steep hill for the next three miles. He wanted to stop and walk and I did for awhile with him. But then I decided I wanted to go a little faster. “Dad,” I said, “how about if I go ahead and I’ll meet up with you if I get tired” 

“Sure, go ahead.” He said. So I did. I finished in just over five hours. He finished in six hours. I couldn’t believe how sore I was the next day. I could barely walk. But the next year I finished in 5. The year after I finished in 4:20. The fastest time I ever got was 3:40 when I was 17 years old and just graduated from high school.  And after that I ran about one or two a year for the next several years till I lost count on how many I had done. Dad has always bragged that he’s the reason I got into running marathons. And he’s right. 

Running has been a main staple in my life for over 32 years. I used to run to get time away from my small children. It was the only time I could think my own thoughts. As a mom your time is not your own even to go to the bathroom.  “Mommy!!  Whatcha doin' in there??” comes the little voices followed by the tiny fingers under the door. 

When my kids were old enough, I took them kicking and screaming, to run with Coach Ed and his Jaguars. My daughter used to untie her shoes on purpose so she would be able to stop and tie them. I used to bribe them with Fashion Polly’s to run longer and harder races than they would have otherwise. The youngest three ran in their diapers and I remember just laughing as the “swish, swish” sound of their little diapers went by. But nowadays my kids push me.

A few years ago we found a marathon course that ran by ancient petroglyphs.  It was erie as the human forms from two or three thousand years ago loomed next to us as if they were watching us. Erie but beautiful, as if the ancient people who lived there wanted us to somehow know about them and remember them. I wondered how different life must have been for them.  But it was wonderful to be sharing such a sight with a grown up child. I felt very blessed to be part of the human chain of life. 

These are the things to be remembered and cherished. Life can be very difficult, stressful, unfair, unkind and through it all you hang on. I go running.