Boston, part 2

"...The closing words go to Lel: "Aiy, that man Robert. Aiy, he is so good, my friend he is so good, I saw it in the training. He trained, my friend, he trained!" And to run like a champion, you must train like a champion."
- from Runner's World coverage

Robert, is Robert Cheruiyot, the Kenyan champion who had to train in Namibia to escape the violence that had erupted this winter in his home country, who was within a minute of breaking his own record, who ran the last miles alone...leaving his contenders well away in the dust. Robert is 6'1" and 136#. The winner of the Paris marathon, which I just happened to catch Saturday was another African runner, barely 5 ft. tall. The winning woman was also diminutive. So it was something to watch Robert cover the road in his long strides, graceful, fluid, pulling along like a cord connected him to the finish, easy easy, and lightening fast!

For a wanna-be like me, it is a rare treat to watch an uber-runner run. There is a deep appreciation for everything you know it took to get them there, to pull off the performance and of course, the victory. Then to watch it in action, knowing that when I'm out there on my little runs I just try to maintain minimal suffering, is to feel the monumental effort of their every arm swing and footfall. There is transcendence in that kind of cadence, it goes beyond pain or even physicality. Soon you are the motion itself, and the idea of motion. Poetry in motion. So simple, and yet, the factors which must come together to make a Robert, or a Tune, who beat her rival by a mere 6 seconds for her victory, is unfathomable.

My run this morning, a 7-8er, was beautiful. Started out stiff, looking for the rhythm, and after a few miles in the lovely cool air, found it. The drum beat which is the footfalls of a smooth gait takes over and before I know it, I've settled in to the motion, the freedom, the release. Every run is a lesson on acceptance and release. The more I run, the more I crave what I saw on Robert's face...serenity, gratitude, mastery.