A Prize of My Own

 

By Amy Coward

 

I love to watch the Olympic Games. It’s so inspiring to see all the talented athletes who can perform incredible feats while skiing, skating or rocketing down a mountain in a luge. They’ve trained their whole lives and given up most everything in order to become the best in their sport and their commitment is amazing. So for two weeks or so, I live vicariously through them imagining what it would be like to be a part of Team USA.

When I was growing up, I didn’t participate in sports. In the 60s and 70s, when I was in middle and high school, sports for girls were not popular, not funded and pretty much not available. While Title IX was passed in 1972, it still took years to see any real difference in my local school. So I never caught the bug.

Forty years later, however, after years of aerobics classes, spinning and Zumba, I decided to take up running. (A little late to the party, I realize.) I’m not really sure what got me started except that it seemed like an easy thing to do for exercise. No expensive gear, no membership fees. Just walk outside and run. I started small with some local races and struggled to finish. Then I joined a training team to help raise money for charity and had a really great coach named Carl. Between his great advice, some books, blogs and the encouragement of friends and family, running became my thing.

Now don’t misunderstand. I am no elite runner. My pace is abysmal and I’m usually at the back of the pack in road races. But I’ve come to accept that. I enjoy running in local races anyway, running through Shandon, Rosewood or along the Riverfront on a Saturday morning, and I especially love a destination race like my trips to the Redwoods in California, the Amish Country in Pennsylvania or Thoroughbred Country in Kentucky.

As I cleaned out my drawer full of running bibs and photos recently, I reflected on all the races I’ve run – 5ks, 10ks, half marathons and a couple of marathons. There are photos of me smiling and some of me grimacing. (The grimacing photos are the most accurate.) While it’s certainly difficult at times, running has become an integral part of my life that’s probably been more impactful than anything I’ve ever done.

Now from my comfy seat on the couch, I watch the Olympians and at some small level I can relate to them. I can relate to the sacrifice of training, the discomfort of getting up early and running before dawn, the pain of sore muscles and the inability to walk after a long race. I also know what race day nerves feel like and cheering crowds and that adrenaline rush when you cross a finish line.

I have a rack full of souvenir medals and a closet loaded with t-shirts to show for all my efforts — nothing in gold, silver or bronze, however. I’ll never stand on a platform while the national anthem is played. And I’ll never have my photo on a box of cereal.  But I think I’ll have a life-long love of running.

And that’s a pretty good prize in my mind.

 

 

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it. 

 

 

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