Showing up at the Starting line is actually more important than the finish line

Couple weeks ago I ran a half-marathon. This year my goal was to encourage a few more friends to achieve their goal. Even though some who started were not able to go through the training for one or the other reason, I was glad that a few did stay with it and made it to the finish line.

I was one of the people who could have dropped out if I did not have the determination to show up at the starting line. I had flu most of the week prior to the race date. Morning of the race day was very cold. My family and even my body said that maybe I should stay home and not go. But I knew that for the last four months I had been encouraging some first timers to run/walk the 13.1 miles. I could not disappoint or discourage them after I put them through all the training. Actually, putting them through might not be the right phrase, because after a while I could see that they were enjoying and feeling good about being able to go longer than the time before and were feeling healthier. Some even lost some weight, which was the bonus benefit.

I am so delighted to report that all my friends who showed up at the starting line also crossed the finish line. I am so proud of all of them. I think they might be hooked for life now. They will miss their regular routine and I am sure that they are not going to quit feeling healthy. They are going to continue walking/running. Some of them are already talking about entering in the next marathon and encouraging others to join. I think I might have started a healthy chain, just thinking about is exciting.

The miracle isn't that I finished...The miracle is that I had the courage to start.
-John Bingham

Have a fun workout! Stay healthy!

Veera Mahajan