If we can run, or walk.... we are lucky. We take our ability to walk for granted. Healthy legs is a matter of immense gratitude. We recognize this when we grow older, or when we see others who are not blessed with healthy legs.
- Initially to win races, esp in student days. For medals! (I/me/mine)
- Then it is about physical fitness. Here medals start becoming more metaphors. Running evolves to remain fit and perform well in other areas of life - work, sport. Some become part of running clubs to achieve all these, also mental & emotional wellness.
- The next level of emotional wellness happens when we run for a cause. Not just I/me/mine
I ran my second Majja Run (5.5 KM) yesterday as part of Bengaluru marathon. While the serious runners (10K) ran before the Sun rise, we started after 8 AM.
As one of the fellow runners/coaches mentioned,
'all 10K runners look alike, and all 5k runners look alike too'
10K participants looked like real runners, while 5K participants were aspiring runners, many with aspirations to move to "10K next year"! For me it is not about the distance or category, but the larger cause.
In my second year at the Bengaluru Marathon,
- I stayed with 5.5 KM majja run: What is the fun in running if there is no 'majja' (fun) in the running? I could reach the venue with fellow runners from our team & other coaches at 730 AM, leisurely move to the starting point and join the crowd of hundreds of majja runners!
- Last year I completed the run (or walk to be precise) in 55 minutes. This time, with friends, enjoyed the walk more than the pressure to complete within an hour.
Journey, Destination, company!
- We came in this time as corporate sponsors.
Regal Unlimited - The Coaching School for the World
was one of the corporate sponsors. That got us to explore new avenues to touch lives, together (with the team and fellow coaches, and friends who supported from outside!)
- A few participants came in costumes - Sri Ram/Hanuman, water-crisis, stress-embodied, etc. Many groups highlighted important issues, water crisis to men's rights (like women rights), which attracted a lot of curiosity.
- Most of the runners were youngsters. It is good to see youth running, walking and dancing at pit-stops with a lot of music! If the marathon helps the youth to keep running, it has served the purpose. A healthy youth is critical to the demographic dividend.
Healthy at all levels: physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual!
- We ran with the local team (missed the team working from other cities), and a few fellow coaches from our community. That means a lot to me.
- We move from a self-obsessed career in the corporate to coaching, to make a difference. But then, coaching, for most of us is serious business. Hence we look for opportunities to make a difference... And we ran for a cause!
Each One Educate One Foundation
:
Having been beneficiaries of a free, holistic and values-based system of education and experienced firsthand its many benefits, e1e1 is the manifestation of the alumni’s collective intent to pay it forward.
- Health and education are going to define the quality of our youth, and their contribution to the making of our young democracy. Else 'demographic dividend' will remain an opportunity on paper.
On the way to the venue, traveling in Namma Metro, I heard this podcast: Money Masters | Saurabh Mukherjea Exclusive | Podcast -
Saurabh Mukherjea, FRSA
in conversation with
Dhirendra Kumar
(two of my fav experts). Saurabh speaks of nurturing youngsters in future... we are trying to do it now!
Master Certified Coach (ICF) | Accredited Coach SuperVisor | Systemic Team Coach | Coach Trainer | Mentor Coach
11 个月The point you made about we taking our ability to walk for granted is so true. Thank you for calling it out Subash. I realized that when I had severe knee pain for a whole month last month. When even taking a normal step forward is a challenge, watching people walk by, run by made me wonder if I would ever walk normally again. It also made me realize how I took walking and the legs that enabled that, for granted. Indeed, how every part of the body is taken for granted. Brought in a different level of gratitude.