The road running race of life

The road running race of life

The first time I ran a race was on the 25^th March 2012, where I was participating on the Jackie Gibson half marathon. When I was preparing for the race I was only running 5KM maximum and I was not very serious about it because I knew I was going to do it just under three hours. I am not exactly sure why I was so sure about that, I can say it was self-confidence at play there. I did not pre-register for the race therefore had to register on the day and I was in the very last line. The race started and I was not sure because I did not hear anything I just saw people in front moving so I did “moving with the flow”. I saw few people starting to run, I followed suit. I started to see more old women there and I mean very old, I thought to myself wow they have lots of time and they are just here to kill time even if it takes them many hours they do not mind.

I have this particular old lady in my mind as I write who was very tall and wrinkled everywhere and moving in a very funny way. I thought, definitely here I am not going to be the last one the very old people will be last, it’s a pity I cannot differentiate between a marathon runner and half marathon runner and I think I was assuming they were all doing half marathon as long as I thought they were very old for the race. Bear in mind this is my first race and did not have a clue what it was. While running having all these conversations to myself I was very fast and sort of had a strategy that when running down the steep would just let go of my body and be fast and as running up the hill will be slow. When I was only left with 5KM my body started aching. I could not run and now I was walking very slowly I felt like asking for a lift ha-ha and I thought you know what if one car can drive by and jokingly ask me to get in, I would just get in without giving her /him a chance to say that they were joking.

To my surprise all the very old people that I left behind long time ago and even undermined them, they all passed me in the same speed they were when I passed them. The old lady I was talking about passed me and I watch her as she disappeared on the road and never saw her. I think I have anniversary with Jackie Gibson Marathon and would participate even this year (2013) and hope to see that lady and talk to her and I will tell you about my conversation with her guys.I did finish the race and yes under three hours, my time was 2hrs44 minutes. I was very proud of myself and I got addicted to road running races. 

Doing the race has thought me many lessons about life and this came some months after I have done the race, every time I think about it I saw the resemblance of the life we live. Some people in life they start the race of life at a very high speed and all those that are left behind they feel like they are not doing enough when in actual fact they are, is just that they are in the warm up phase. While in the warm up stage do not allow the devil to take your hope away from you. And there are those who are moderate and steady in their running and seem all the time to pass the ones that started in a very high speed as they approach the finish line. A verse come to my mind as I am writing that says the first would be last and the last would be first; Matthew 20:16. Also there are those who start very late and very fast and pass everyone else and finish in time. Now I enjoy my race either the one of life or the road running they are so similar to each other that I learn something from the road running race marathon that I can apply to my race of life. Never ever give up on the race of life, do not lose hope your turn is coming, it’s so big and real it overwhelms you because you are what God says you are. Just enjoy the ride.

See you soon and I hope you enjoyed this read if you did Google+ please. You can leave a comment here or in your heart. I love the world.