A good friend recently took up running. She lives in Baguio and decided to make the EDSA Run her first official running race.  Here’s what she wrote about her experience:

Reflections on the EDSA Run:

“For some strange reason, I found myself crying a few minutes after I crossed the starting line of the EDSA run. I so wanted to just let the tears fall down, and let myself go. But I was running beside Andre and I didn’t want to worry him. So I held back the tears, which I knew, were tears of joy.

I started this running journey not knowing how far it would take me. Back then, running 5K was such an enormous feat. I couldn’t even run 2K without feeling the ache on my knee and on my back. The only thing that kept me going was something I read which said that if you keep on doing something constantly for 6 weeks, it gets hard-wired into your brain. So that became my initial goal, to get running hard-wired into my brain so it becomes a habit. After I passed the 6-week mark, I had the psychological advantage, and started calling myself a runner.

So my tears on that day were really a culmination of all the initial struggles that I encountered, and a celebration of what I have accomplished so far. My mind kept reminding me: “Jardz, you’re doing something about it.”  I have a weight problem, I”m doing something about it. And now here I was, running a distance that 4 months ago was impossible for me to do.

It was so apt that my first run ever would be the EDSA Run. It stood for everything that I have learned so far. That we are in charge, that we can do something about it, that everything is possible if we put our minds to it. Isn’t this the spirit of EDSA and the I am Ninoy, I am Cory movement? It’s about sacrifice, empowerment, and owning the change. That day, I thought that I was running to help build classrooms. But now, I realize that I was running for me. Each step I took was no longer about losing weight, it was a personal testament to the power of will, the reward of sacrifice, the importance of strength in character, and to the idea that I’ve started the change from within.”

Her story moved me and reminded me that there is really a power in this sport of ours that anyone can discover. You don’t have to be strong or talented or even feel confident. And the price of admission is the courage to lace up some running shoes and try.