After running for a summer in 2000 I didn’t run for 13 years. It seemed that I had forgotten it or I was not interested in running again. My life took very sharp turns and went through lots of up and downs. I travelled a lot, saw many places, met many amazing people and then I finally moved to the US and started a new life in Atlanta, Georgia. I went to school and in toward the end of my PhD, one Saturday night I got an email from a friend who was asking me if I will be interested to join her in a run on Sunday. The run was organized by a meetup group in Atlanta and the idea was to run around the Piedmont Park. Piedmont is a large beautiful park right at the heart of midtown Atlanta. It has a shape of a triangle and its perimeter is about 3 miles and therefore it is a favorite area for local runners.
On that Sunday in August 2013, I put on my sneakers and biked to the park, parked my biked on the other side of the street and then joined a group of runners majority of them were female in their 50s and 60s. They were the sweetest people I had met and they welcomed us with big smiles.
Soon after the run officially started, the group was split into few subgroups of fast or slow runners. I tried to stick to the main core and the leader of the group who was running at a medium pace. We started from the main gate on 10th street, and went west toward Piedmont Ave and took it up to Monroe Dr. Once we reached the peak of the triangle where Piedmont and Monroe meet, I was pretty sure that I was done with the run. I was breathing short and fast and my heart was beating like it was going to jump out of my chest. There was a moment of decision: should I stop and take care of my body or ignore it and finish what I had started. I looked at the fellow runners in our small group. There were 3 or 4 of them, old but in shape and healthy. All seemed happy and enjoying the run. They were chatting all along the way. I was surprised how they could talk while running without being short of breathe.
I though by myself that if they can do it, I HAVE TO do it. So I kept running and following them. Looking down at their pace and just follow it automatically. Finally we got back down to 10th street and we approached the finish point inside the park. Once I got there, I fell down. I collapsed and I remember I told myself that that was it. “I am not going to run again”, I thought.
My friend who had stopped just after a mile of running, joined me and asked how I feel. I told her that it was fun but I am not sure if I can do it again.
On the way back home on my bicycle, I started to think about what I have achieved: “running 3 miles”. It seemed so long and so hard that I immediately felt very good about it. I had run a distance that was more than my daily bike commute to work. I felt I have achieved a milestone and I also felt that it was something that I have done it alone. Something that it belongs to me and only me. Something that I can finally take 100 percent credit for it. If academic achievements and professional success are a combination of personal talent and environmental factors, running is really a solo accomplishment. Yes you can say you need good shoes to run but even with my cheap sneakers I could run 3 miles! That was something magical for me. It was as if I had become a different and better person after that run.
I went home and took a shower and for a week I was waiting for the next Sunday to go and run around the park again. My journey has just started and I was so excited about it.
Piedmont Park, Atlanta
On that Sunday in August 2013, I put on my sneakers and biked to the park, parked my biked on the other side of the street and then joined a group of runners majority of them were female in their 50s and 60s. They were the sweetest people I had met and they welcomed us with big smiles.
Soon after the run officially started, the group was split into few subgroups of fast or slow runners. I tried to stick to the main core and the leader of the group who was running at a medium pace. We started from the main gate on 10th street, and went west toward Piedmont Ave and took it up to Monroe Dr. Once we reached the peak of the triangle where Piedmont and Monroe meet, I was pretty sure that I was done with the run. I was breathing short and fast and my heart was beating like it was going to jump out of my chest. There was a moment of decision: should I stop and take care of my body or ignore it and finish what I had started. I looked at the fellow runners in our small group. There were 3 or 4 of them, old but in shape and healthy. All seemed happy and enjoying the run. They were chatting all along the way. I was surprised how they could talk while running without being short of breathe.
I though by myself that if they can do it, I HAVE TO do it. So I kept running and following them. Looking down at their pace and just follow it automatically. Finally we got back down to 10th street and we approached the finish point inside the park. Once I got there, I fell down. I collapsed and I remember I told myself that that was it. “I am not going to run again”, I thought.
My friend who had stopped just after a mile of running, joined me and asked how I feel. I told her that it was fun but I am not sure if I can do it again.
On the way back home on my bicycle, I started to think about what I have achieved: “running 3 miles”. It seemed so long and so hard that I immediately felt very good about it. I had run a distance that was more than my daily bike commute to work. I felt I have achieved a milestone and I also felt that it was something that I have done it alone. Something that it belongs to me and only me. Something that I can finally take 100 percent credit for it. If academic achievements and professional success are a combination of personal talent and environmental factors, running is really a solo accomplishment. Yes you can say you need good shoes to run but even with my cheap sneakers I could run 3 miles! That was something magical for me. It was as if I had become a different and better person after that run.
I went home and took a shower and for a week I was waiting for the next Sunday to go and run around the park again. My journey has just started and I was so excited about it.
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