Life Lesson From The Berlin Marathon

It is the eve of the day I have been working towards for 12 weeks.

I sit in my Berlin Hotel Room feeling a sense of anticipation and excitement. I also have a degree of concern about the weather that will greet us in the morning. Will it be wet, windy, humid or hot? Then again, I have no desired formula for what perfect weather will look like. 

The weather will simply be, what it will be.

Tomorrow is the day of the 2017 Berlin Marathon.

I do struggle to articulate why at just a few days short of my 59^th birthday, I am setting out to run my second ever marathon.

The first was in New York in 2015 and as amazing experience as it was, everything about it was hard and just hurt. I was injured through much of the preparation and went into the event still injured. It was satisfying to finish and it was a sensational experience to be a part of an amazing event and to see New York from a vantage point that relative few get to enjoy, but it wasn’t fun as such.

I said I would never do another, but here I am.

The constant injury and the drudgery of training for New York were drivers in my decision to not make my way to another marathon starting line. A huge part of my motivation for New York was being a part of the MND and Me foundation team and fund raising. This was the reason I entered the event and the reason I persevered.

I was also driven as much by wanting to be a part of a unique event, to be able to say I was not just a marathoner, but I was a New York City Marathoner. 

Very little about New York, was to do with the actual running of a marathon. It was a combination of a Charitable commitment and perceived kudos of the New York City Marathon. Ego was a factor.

In Berlin, I am again a member of the MND and Me team and proudly so. The foundation does extraordinary work.

However, I am here for “me” this time too. I am here because I want to run the Berlin Marathon. This time it is about the event, the 42 plus a little bit Kilometres that make up the Marathon.

I am not obsessing about a time, I really don’t care what it is. I am here to enjoy the event for the sake of the running. In New York it was about something else; in Berlin, the sites of the City and the size and encouragement of the crowds are looked forward to, but it is the run that is my primary sense of enjoyment tomorrow.

I am incredibly grateful for, and humbled by the messages and support from Family and Friends. It is really very moving, emotional at times and motivating always. Thank you.

All that is left in the preparation is dinner, a good night’s sleep, breakfast and the starting line.

And the lesson I have learned is, if we take action in life for true and authentic reason, everything is far more enjoyable and satisfying and I think this is a lesson to take to all aspects of life.

I am running the Berlin Marathon tomorrow, for all the right reasons this time.

NB: Apologies for the layout and other issues in recent posts. The European version of the site operates quite differently to Australia, making layout and editing somewhat difficult. (I am also out of time sync with my wonderful volunteer proof reader which doesn't help)