21.....AND HOOKED!!

The gun went and off we set. Caught up with the front runners and with a loud "Go Jacqui", shouted by Charissa, who was still stuck in the ridicously long toilet que, I was finally on the road running my first 21km race.
Dressed in my new Satori gear, I felt alive with excitement, anticipation and the comaraderie all around me. I felt like I belonged! "Go Satori!" echoed along the way, from my new found Satori friends, who made me feel like I had always known them. Mmmmm.....then the mind game began. We had only run 8km, but I had started too fast! The legs began to object and I wondered why on earth I was doing this!

Thank goodness for running partners. Sam asked me the one all changing question, as we were plodding along in Kalk Bay: "Jacqui, why do you run?" The light went on: "Because I love it", I replied. With that confession a huge tension seemed to rush out of my body. I remembered always loving the way Andrea signed all our Satori correspondence: "For the love of it." I accepted there and then that due to inexperience, I would be off the time I had set, but then again, for me, was it about time in the first place?

I ran the last 10km, loving it. Chatting, laughing and of course the spectacular view made the last 10km far more enjoyable and even easier maybe?? I crossed the finishing line with a great sense of achievement, and joined my new Satori family at their meeting place.

Thanks to Charissa, who had always encouraged me that I could, I finally did it!

Jacqui Cunningham