Spirit of the Marathon
Last night I saw “Spirit of the Marathon,” a documentary about five runners in the Chicago Marathon of 2005. Katherine Switzer, the first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon in 1967, says, “You triumph over the adversity — that’s what the marathon is all about. And therefore you know there isn’t anything in life that you can’t triumph over after that.”
On Sunday, I will join 21,000 other runners to run my second marathon. I started running on January 4, 2007, the day I found out about the Team in Training marathon program. I did it because I knew it was completely impossible for an endomorphic, lazy, non-athletic, almost-40-year-old woman to run a marathon.
Guess I was wrong. Wish me luck. You can also see live results, if you want (Elizabeth Ziesenis, Race #14752).
This six-minute trailer from the movie is worth watching.
Posts
steph on 30 May 2008 at 10:23 am #
Beth: I don’t know if it’s PMS or what but that trailer brought tears to my eyes!! I’m totally choked up. I guess I’ve never thought that much about the run and the length of it, the physical demands. You are a strong person for watching this before your race: the music and watching how straining it is made the whole thing terrifying for me. I was gasping when that runner was barely standing as she crossed the finish. I’m not sure she was even fully conscious and I think I’ll never forget that image.
There is nothing more significant than getting past the ultimate physical and mental adversities (marathons, climbing mountains, and the like) in discovering your full potential as a human being. It’s very powerful to me and I love seeing that triumph. I wish this for you and I really admire you. Good luck on Sunday! (It seems such a weak thing to say in light of what you’re facing.) I’ll be rooting for you, and the million others, too.
Beth on 30 May 2008 at 11:55 am #
Steph,
You should have seen the four of us crying last night during the movie. I haven’t waited at the finish line before, but people tell me it’s quite emotional to see the moms crossing the finish line hand in hand with their children who have run up to greet them, the exhausted runners so triumphant yet, umm exhausted… The intensity is intoxicating. For each and every person this is a huge accomplishment, and the camaraderie is like nothing I have felt.
Thanks for the support and your kind words. They help keep us going.
steph on 30 May 2008 at 8:10 pm #
Any time. I look forward to your post about how it was!