RUNNING TEACHES US LIFE LESSONS

The picture featured brings back such heart-warming memories from a year ago. We could not fathom then the events that would unfold only a year later. Days like those are to be cherished!

In the loneliness, isolation, fear, uncertainty and confusion that we face daily in this Covid -19 Pandemic, we should remember and feel privileged to have had the runs we had.

We should remember now, the energy and fire that drove us to take up the challenge, for the strength within us that refused to give up, for the companionship that brought inspiration and hope when we thought we were down and out, for the fierce passion and belief to fight to the finish and the pride in our hearts knowing we did it together! We should celebrate because moments like these are a celebration of our abilities and of what our incredible bodies can do!

These memories of what it meant to be part of a team, to embrace the challenge and to not give up can surely help us on our journey now as we fight a new battle, an invisible one, one of uncertainty and one we shall never forget.

Running teaches us life lessons and things about ourselves. It teaches us to be humble; it teaches us that nothing is certain; it teaches us to dream and push our own limitations and to dig deep. It teaches us to be brave and to persevere. It teaches us that when we think we are tired and think we can’t take another step, that we can take another and another and another. It teaches us to keep our bodies and minds conditioned and prepared and it teaches us that when you run together, you are stronger and when your legs give in and you are to weary to move, your team will be there to carry you home!

Each race must start with dream, a dream of what could be possible. Training, often fun, often hard, sometimes brutal but always necessary is the tool that enables us. Each run requires a goal, a bigger picture, a route, a plan, a willingness and action.

Let us use these lessons learnt to help us storm into each new day with passion in our hearts and an unquenchable thirst to get to the finish and never ever give up!

We are still a team…all of us….and no length of lock down or isolation can change that!

So let’s dream of those next runs together, of the cold winter mornings huddled together, breathing out white dew and waiting anxiously for the start, singing our National Anthem with tears and pride, hearing the banging and trumpeting and enthusiasm of the crowds and the sound of thousands on a journey to achieve a common goal.

Let’s dream of a better, brighter and more certain tomorrow.

Written by Kirsty Roux