Stories

What is to run forever?

Runforever starts with a story:

What is to run forever?

I was running in solitude in a loop where many runners used to train. Suddenly a guy came up to me and asked, “why don’t you run with us?”. They were a group of about ten runners and I knew them as part of a running club. I replied” but I want to run a marathon” so that he immediately looked at me as an old friend with a lot of experience and with some sense of friendship like we were already on the same path. He said “You know that in a marathon there is a wall? You have to learn how to run forever if you want to get through it. Run forever is a dream that you can’t have alone. You have to run with others to dream it together” (big dreams – Jung). This was not clear to me, but it made me curious and the idea of the wall attracted me. So I replied “Maybe once I’ll join in”. “Once is forever…” he said. After 16 years and 17 completed marathons along with many other races and wonderful runs, I can say that he was right. I joined in and never stopped being part of that running club which learns how to run forever. No one ever told me that I had to be on time and do my training. It was not even my choice because there is no choice in a dream. The dream of running the wall of the marathon and getting through it by running forever caught me and never left me. Although I don’t live in Italy anymore, I consider myself as still part of the same club and, as many other friend runners who were originally part of that club, I’m now creating as a mentor other running clubs inspired by the same question, what is running forever?

The first day of a new life

The first day of a new life

Anyway, after the first run, I went back to the changing rooms to take a shower. I opened the door and felt the fresh air of the door open on my face. I felt so good. And I remember stripping off the various layers of clothing, and I was drenched in sweat. There was nothing left, I had given everything. I took a shower, held the sprayer in my hand and put my face under the water and said “this is exactly the best there is”. And I cried. I really cried, and I'm not one of those people with an easy tear. I had never in my life had an experience comparable to the one that running had given me. I wasn't just happy. I was full of joy. And I knew this was how I wanted to live. I knew this was what I wanted to do. Later that day, I went to work for the afternoon shift, and told people I had run. The next day I was having a hard time getting out of bed. Everything hurt. But as soon as I could, I ran again. I couldn't wait to try those sensations again. I couldn't get my hands on that sensation, I couldn't grab it, but I knew it was mine. Nobody could give it to me or take it away from me.

One day I came out with I'm going to run a marathon!