Road to Philly Half – Chapter 1

I have recently shared with you about starting a run club on campus, Bryn Mawr Laid Back Runners… There is more to this story…

I have always been in love with running, something most people hate. For years, 20 years to be exact, I played field hockey – a sport with a big team and constant interaction with others. Running was my only time with just myself and my thoughts. It’s my meditation.

Don’t get me wrong. I hate running, too. Some days are great, some days are awful and painful and brutally long. It’s a journey.

Creating the running club was a journey in itself, but earlier in the summer – when Sophie and I were thinking about how to start a club and how to pitch this idea to others – we decided to sign up to run the Philly Half-Marathon together, on November 20, 2021.

A half-marathon is 13.1 miles. I am definitely scared and at the same time, extremely excited. In my 20 years playing field hockey, I would have never imagined I would be at a physical, emotional or mental state where I could say “let’s go run a half-marathon!”. Even crazier, is the fact that about only one percent or so of the world has ran a marathon (full or half).

Running the Philadelphia Half-Marathon means a lot of things to me. It will be the last run around the streets I have for many years, walked, laughed and shared with friends, went out for dinner, went out for a field trip, read about. It will be my last goodbye to a city that has hosted great memories and experiences. And, most importantly, it will be a journey I am doing for an important and heartfelt cause.

I decided to run this race for my uncle, who,  passed away from cancer a couple of years ago. Like many people, cancer has affected my family deeply. My uncle and I shared a passion for sports, running and living a healthy lifestyle. I decided to fundraise for Sunrise Day Camps, the first ever free-of-cost camp for children affected by cancer and their siblings, which would have been a safe-heaven for my family.

The Philly Half marathon in November is about three things: family, goodbyes and mental health. This journey, the explanation of the why’s behind the three pillars of my decision to become part of that crazy one percent can not fit in one blog – they deserve a series of chapters.

In this new blog series, I plan to guide you through what it takes to become fit enough to run a marathon, how I balance school and training, how running changed my relationship with exercise and school, what it’s like to organize a fundraiser at BMC and the history behind one of Philadelphia’s most iconic events – Marathon Weekend!

Join me, let’s start this journey together…

Picture courtesy of Pixabay