Today I'm a runner. It has been at least five years since I emerged out of my front door for a jog down my block, dreaming of one day being a real runner. Seven half marathons later I still hesitate calling myself a runner because my definition of "runner" has always been one step ahead of me, barely exceeding my current condition. 'Once I'm a little faster...a little stronger...my runs more effortless...THEN I'll be a runner.'
This week tragedy struck runners when, in Boston, bombs blew at the marathon finish. In the midst of this horrific event, runners from all over the globe have been seeping out of the woodwork, uniting as a community that stands strong.
Never before have I been more proud to claim identity as part of this wonderful community. I'm realizing more and more that identity as a runner has less to do about stats, medals and bibs on a wall than it does the persistence to get out the door and move forward in a world full of reasons to stop.
So today I joined 250+ runners from all over Seattle for a group run around Greenake to remember Boston... those killed, injured, struck by grief, whose lives have been changed forever. I realize I have to claim identity as a runner because running gives life to tragedy and (even to my own dry and weak bones)... because running unites me with an amazing group of people who persist and move together through tragedy, injustice, and build strength from weak limp bones, even when surroundings yell 'STOP'... because running alongside people I've never met, we are headed toward a same goal.
I don't know that I was born a runner but I've grown into one. It sure hasnt been easy and wont be as I continue to push myself forward past the voices yelling 'stop'. Though I have far to go, today I call myself runner and hope that running continues to weave intself more and more into the fabric of my being.
This week tragedy struck runners when, in Boston, bombs blew at the marathon finish. In the midst of this horrific event, runners from all over the globe have been seeping out of the woodwork, uniting as a community that stands strong.
Never before have I been more proud to claim identity as part of this wonderful community. I'm realizing more and more that identity as a runner has less to do about stats, medals and bibs on a wall than it does the persistence to get out the door and move forward in a world full of reasons to stop.
So today I joined 250+ runners from all over Seattle for a group run around Greenake to remember Boston... those killed, injured, struck by grief, whose lives have been changed forever. I realize I have to claim identity as a runner because running gives life to tragedy and (even to my own dry and weak bones)... because running unites me with an amazing group of people who persist and move together through tragedy, injustice, and build strength from weak limp bones, even when surroundings yell 'STOP'... because running alongside people I've never met, we are headed toward a same goal.
I don't know that I was born a runner but I've grown into one. It sure hasnt been easy and wont be as I continue to push myself forward past the voices yelling 'stop'. Though I have far to go, today I call myself runner and hope that running continues to weave intself more and more into the fabric of my being.
No comments:
Post a Comment