The "Run"

I've always thought of myself as a non-sports person - years of being in a school where "sports" generally mean "mainstream sports" like running, jumping, netball, volleyball, badminton and the likes has drilled that too deeply into my head, so although I've taken up martial arts since college and more recently, climbing, I still don't relate myself to sports. I blame it on the school's way of defining sports as the ability to run or jump or catch and throw balls (which you have to run to do). I can't run and I don't run. I know running is getting to be rather "fashionable" in these recent years - so many friends who I never knew run are now doing half- and full-marathons, so much so that a 10km run is "for fun" and a 5km run is "not a run". Whatever. I've had friends try to pull me in:

Typical conversation 1:
She: We have 3 runners here, so we should make our next gathering at a marathon!
Me: Sure... you guys run, I'll cheer you from the sidelines
She: You can run the easy 10km
Me: I can run 10m to and fro between my office and the washroom
She: ...

Typical conversation 2:
He: It's just 7km... you will find your stamina
Me: Sure, I'll run 0.7km, then I'll die and you'll have to carry my dead body with you the rest of the way
He: ...

(read more on my inability to run)

Two weeks ago, my mother asked if I would like to join a 1km run for charity. I should have sensed that something was not quite right - who on earth would organize a 1km anything? It's for a women-related charity, she continued, and it's not competitive.

I said yes. For one, it's a charity event. For another, (this is the long story short) a dear friend had asked a couple of us to go on a weeks-long trek / hike across Nepal, and I'd sort of said yes. With stamina like mine, it'll be a kamikaze mission if I don't do anything in preparation for it. So the plan is - my friend who's afraid of heights will come climbing with me, and I, who's unable to run will force myself to, well, go for runs with her. Of course, as of now, the plan is still just a plan. *Ahem*

So, yea, a 1km whatever-you-call-it is as good a start as any. Unfortunately, it turned out nothing like I thought it's be. I had unwittingly signed up for a pointless event that, under normal circumstances, I would not have thought twice before saying no. The crowd was so huge and so full of families with loud, chattering women and screaming children I was uncomfortable just being there. I don't like family events - I prefer my family in the comfort of our home. The organizers served breakfast - I could only cringe at the amount of polystyrene used and was completely nauseated by the thought of how horribly littered the park will be when the event was over. I had no idea what the schedule was, but a full hour after the event was supposed to "start" the walk / run was nowhere near starting.

Maybe it's my age - I don't have much patience these days (except when I'm teaching, during which the well of my patience is practically bottomless... it's like there's a switch in my brain, and yea, I find it odd too). I was not about to stick around wasting my Sunday morning, which could have been spent sleeping! I half-ran, half-walked along the jogging trail around the park, got my fill of cardio I signed up for, and then left. I don't know if I made the miserable 1km, but I don't care - I still don't like running. I'd much rather be the "court jester" playing tennis (another long story that I shall save for next time).

Good night (or morning), Reader! =)