Why I run...

This morning...

This morning I went for a light jog. I'd planned to do 6-8 laps, but ended up going home after 4 laps. Why ? I had to chase the garbage truck. I'd missed the truck on Saturday, & yesterday my in-laws came over for buka puasa, so we had a whole bunch of trash. The garbage truck will only come again on Thursday. So I had to go home & take out the trash.


Why I run ?
I watched my first Olympics in 1984. I was in Standard 2 tht year & it was Los Angeles' turn to host the Olympics. Can U imagine that ? I was eight years old & I watched the Olympics. I wonder how many kids that age nowadays who would stay up to watch the Olympics. It was the year Carl Lewis attempted to win 4 gold medals in athletics, to honor the great Jesse Owens. He succeeded & won gold in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m & long jump. I became his biggest fan instantly.

In 1986 I took part in my first ever Pesta Sukan Sekolah. I was in Standard 4, & I was in a new school, Sekolah Rendah Methodist ACS Klang. Even after 2 years, the memories of the 1984 Olympics was still fresh in my mind. So I was out to mimic my idol's performance. But tht was easier said than done of course. I made it to the 100m finals, where I finished last, didn't make the 200m finals, finished out of the medals in long jump. My only consolation was in the 4 x 100m, I was the 1st runner & we won the bronze.

Come to think of it, despite all my involvement in other sports, football, cycling, basketball, etc.. athletics is the one tht really challenges me, physically. U see, I dun have any real talent in athletics, so I really had to fight for it. But I've never failed to land at least a consolation prize in any long distance event (jogathon, etc) at school.

I guess it's just tht. The drive is there, but the talent, the physique, ain't. Running has been the fastest way for me to get rid those extra bulk. After going to 4 races this year, I'm hooked. There's no other sport that can attract thousands of ppl, young & old, to slug it out in a 10km run. When I was in Standard Chartered KL Marathon this year, 5100 ppl ran in the 10K category, the biggest in any event. The atmosphere was just superb. & U can see all this veterans, 40-50 year-olds, still going strong, even beating us the younger ones. During the Setia Alam half marathon, the winner was a 42 year-old, & his time was faster that the open category (below 35) winner by a couple of minutes. I dun think U can get that in any other endurance sport. It's a real eye-opener & the ultimate motivator.

I wanna run the half-marathon next year, & at least once in my lifetime, I wanna do the marathon. My wife asked me the other day, if we had a child, what sport do I want our child to take up ? I said, easy: running. Relatively easy, cheap sport, & if U can do really well, there's money in it too. I guess I'm here to stay. This is the sport I'ma get involved the longest.