Go Jessie, Go

EDITORS NOTE: This month, Climb For Kids is heading to China to participate in the Great Wall Marathon. One of the participants, Jessie Alan, was kind enough to put together a bunch of thoughts on the event, her preparation and what the run means to her. Here’s the first of many posts written by Jessie for the event.

Yes, even minimalist neat freaks like me have a ratty t-shirt or two crammed in their bottom drawer; and by one or two, I literally mean two. One is the faded yellow t-shirt my dad used to wear to wash the car on weekends when I was a baby – back when I was too young to recognize the cars’ make and model, but old enough to know that its olive green paint – much like the olive green porcelain in our bathroom – was not an ok color and wouldn’t be trendy for long.

The other is my 1994 Traverse City Track and Field team shirt, which I’ve had a blissful reunion with this spring as I prepped for the Great Wall half marathon I’m about to run with Matt, and wearing this shirt again has been truly inspirational. (Speaking of Matt, sorry sweetie for almost throwing out a nasty-but-valuable shirt of yours last week, I plead temporary spring-cleaning insanity. Oh the hypocrisy.)

When I dug out this shirt and put it on, I was reminded of 2 things: 1) old t-shirts like this feel amazing, how the threadbare baggy cotton floats and billows on the skin, holding in just enough heat for this weather and 2) er, yeah…years ago, for a half second I was on my high school’s track team. Kind of. At least I never came in last – but what was I doing, anyway? My inseam is 28 inches, I was a horrible sprinter, and I chose the 100 hurdles as my event. Genius

The thing is, I think my illustrious track&field career was so short because in my heart I’ve never been a competitive runner. I started running when I was twelve, and I did this because my mom kept forcing me to follow my dad on his three-mile runs on my bike, and one day I just decided to ditch the bike. I ran in high school because I was fat. Next thing I knew, I was running because I was fit and – miracle of all miracles – I loved it.
I’m not good, I’m not fast, and it doesn’t matter.

I’ve run in the Mojave desert, across volcanic craters on the Big Island, and on the beaches of Lake Michigan. I’ve also pulled over on the side of the highway in places like Nebraska, Montana and Massachusetts to change in the back seat of the car and hop out for a couple miles to break up the monotony of a long road trip. The quiet meditative state a good run can have really opens my senses to everything around me, and I think it’s one of the best ways to really experience a place.

Which makes this Great Wall run pretty much the most perfect thing I could do – I won’t be caught up in working harder, moving faster, or making time, I’ll just be enjoying my surroundings with every mindblowing step. And trying not to fall off the Wall.

The delicate t-shirt will stay safely home, to provide inspiration for another day. Maybe I’ll wear it for a jog when I go home to TC this summer. Go Trojans!