NYC Marathon

Okay, so a while ago I decided I needed to finally make my dream of running a marathon come true by signing up for the NYC marathon which is on Sunday November 1st.

I started running when I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about 5 years ago now. Running really changed my life. I felt the endorphins streaming through my brain, I realized I could accomplish goals, and I had a lot of adventures at 5:30 am running through snow and rain in the beautiful neighbourhood, the avenues, in downtown Salt Lake City. My running partners were women from South Africa, Brazil, the U.S., Austria, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand.


I hadn't run since highschool (when I was forced to in gym class- Erin and Briony and I would lament to our teacher: Murdy nooooo!!!) and I didn't think that I would be able to but Sister Howden said human beings are made to run and that if you can walk, you can run. She did not except any excuses and when I told her that the predawn winter Utah air was burning my throat and that I tasted blood she said "that's normal".

But she was right, it didn't harm me and I felt amazing after 2 weeks of running. We had two main routes; the first was a loop in the residential area which could be extended a mile or two by going all the way to "the tree". "The tree" was at the top of a long incline and represented the tree of life spoken of in the Book of Mormon. We dreaded going there.

The second main route, reserved for once a week, was Ensign Peak. The entire way there is a steep incline from our pink apartment building. It took us an hour and a half to go there and back. It represented our goals of going home with a skinny butt (I actually lost weight on my mission, which is not typical of those who serve in Utah) and our individual spiritual goals. Ensign Peak plays an important role in Mormon history. When early members of the church were abandoning their communities in the eastern U.S., pulling handcarts and searching for their zion, vaguely described to them as being in the West, it was the silhouette of Ensign Peak that the prophet Brigham Young recognized from a vision and subsequently declared his famous line "this is the place", indentifying the Salt Lake Valley as the desert that those early members of the church were to call home.

Some of my favourite running memories come from reaching the top of Ensign Peak- staring with huge eyes at the city below me and feeling like I was on sacred ground. Then we would run down the hill home, sometimes in pouring rain and I would feel alive and that I was really experiencing my surroundings.

Here in Toronto is a lot harder for me to run. I have joined the Running Room twice, I have coached a 5km clinic once and I had a brief stint with a running partner when I first moved here. But I mostly run alone and I really miss the companionship of my sisters! (even though it's been 4 years!)

So here I am now, trying to be more proactive about feeling good and enjoying my surroundings, even if the Toronto air smells like cheese that's gone off; unfortunately this is only in part due to the recent garbage strike!

The point is, running can help me remember how good it felt to breathing in every moment of each day. And I am running for a charity that Paul Newman started called "Team Hole in the Wall". It sends children severely affected by illnesses to summer camps. Here is my website:
http://www.teamholeinthewall.org/SeeNatRun
I am looking for donors to reach my goal of 3,000 dollars so that I can make a difference in someone else's life. What else is there to run for?