Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER.
I never considered myself capable of running further than 200 metres, which was always my best effort at the school athletics carnival.
One day not so long ago, read early 50’s, I said to my partner “I can’t run because I get out of breath. I don’t know how anyone runs for a kilometre or more.” He said to me “why don’t you slow down?” What the fuck, the guy is a genius, it had never ever occurred to me. So I tried it, the “Cliff Young shuffle”. I must have looked hilarious, my kids came up with the name for my style. The weird thing is it worked and I ran further than I had ever been able to run in my life and even more amazing was that I actually enjoyed it. How bizarre.
And so it began. I started with walk/runs maybe running 50 metres then walking 100 and so on. An old crony from the Manly surf club had once told me that Manly to Queeensie and back was 3ks so I had a benchmark and slowly I built up to running all the way down and walking back, 1 ½ ks. I was so amazed that I could do it and actually used to brag to friends and family. I thought I was GI Jane.
I can’t really explain why I wanted to do it, maybe a “me too” thing because everyone in Manly wears lycra, runs, swims, surfs, cycles …. I was aging, a bit on the plump side (what a fabulous word) and probably suffering from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) which has pretty much plagued me all my life.
Anyway, so whatever it was, I was somehow very happy to be able to call myself a “runner”. I was wearing running shoes that I’d owned since my feet stopped growing and shorts and T’shirts that went from gardening to lawn mowing to running, but I was a runner.
Just like FOREST I kept going a bit further each run and eventually had 5ks under control.
City to Surf, what an institution and inspiration in Sydney. I asked my 23 year old daughter to do it with me and we ran/walked the 14ks sharing an iPod and having quality ”mummy/daughter time” as she would say.
I can’t remember when I decided to spend some money on new shoes and proper running gear but somehow along the way I made a slight transition to looking less daggy and more like an athlete. Oddly enough this was a really good move because “look like an athlete – behave like an athlete” and I started to get more ambitious.
I took some advice from a work mate when I got a junk email about the SMH Half Marathon and he drew up a program to get me from the 0ks I was doing at the time to the 21 I needed to slog out. I cried when I crossed the finish line, not really believing I had done it. An unbelievable feeling of self-awesomeness and gratitude to have the good health to be able to do it.
From that run, I always call them runs not races, I decided to do a few more and bribed myself by choosing great places. Melbourne Half to visit a sister, Gold Coast Half to visit a friend, Perth Half to visit another friend, Port Douglas HALF because why not?
It was at Port Douglas that I found a stand promoting the New York Marathon. I never knew people outside the US could buy an entry into the race. The event was exactly 12 months away and I deliberated over Christmas and signed up in February, the race, accommodation for me and my partner and a pre-race dinner. I was committed to train and prepare for a 42k run in fucking New York City. I still can’t believe I did it but at 54 I pushed it out and ran with a massive grin into Central Park. My partner provided the flights as a Christmas present and we had an unforgettable time in the city, the race, the after race margaritas and holiday. It still brings tears to my eyes. I was slow, over 5 hours, and it was freezing and I had 4 toilet stops but I made it and will never forget it.
My kids (all in their 20s) are really proud of me, not that they would tell me that, but they introduce me to all their friends as “this is my mum, she runs Marathons”.
Just the other day I was chatting with my eldest and one and his mates and my running came up and my son’s mate, a champion sprinter in high school and a current first grade player with the Manly Marlins said “run a marathon, I could never do that”.