"You are not defeated when others stop believing in you, but you are, when you stop believing in yourself". This is what marathons have taught me. Not necessarily the ones you run, also the marathons run by others.
When you desire for a thing so much in life, it is a crime to just let it go. The very sight of Yuvi crossing that finish line yesterday brought back the beautiful memories of Mumbai where I ran my first full marathon.
My decision not to run this year in Jan, which looked wise at that time, came back to haunt me yesterday. Here I am looking at a man, who is definitely uncomfortable, but brimming with pride after finishing his first full marathon. I felt very happy for him but bad for myself that I did not have a fraction of the determination he showed today,which would have brought me home at Mumbai.
Marathons mean very emotional to me and the way it imitates life is beyond one could possibly imagine.
Failing miserably to convince him in my previous attempts to scale down his distance to a half marathon, I gave one last try as he stood in the starting line. In return, he gave me this smile,which seemed to convey that "its my race,you better shut up." I uttered a small prayer wishing him a safe and quick return.
Marathons can be quite humbling. You have to train for them or else it well may be a SUICIDE. It was bit difficult to concentrate on my own run, trying to carry along the thought that someone you know was going to hurt and all you could do was to hope that he persevere to make it through.
Well, he did persevere. As that lean frame of muscles crossed that line, the first of two lines of this blog post hit my mind. It was a great relief..He just inspired me to be on the hunt.
Last few words to Yuvi: Welcome to the club!! Getting into this club is not easy, but once you get in, you are member for life. First marathon is always special. Savour it!! Celebrate it!! Marathon is a beautiful way to express human emotions. Beauty is not only in the run that day, but also in the training that comes before it. Believe in the run.. It gives more than it takes. Believe in yourself.. You are destined for much greater glory.
Here is the wishing to many more such runs with you and also to those beers!!
Godspeed!!
