First off - I’m not a sporty guy. My idea of a good weekend is to kick back, watch Netflix and eat sinful food. In February 2019, I decided I should run in an event to prove to myself I can do anything. My friend convinced me to sign up for the Half Marathon so I did.

On October 20th 2019 - I ran my first Half Marathon i.e 21 Kilometers (13.1 Miles for my American friends) in Toronto.

Some of the biggest takeaways from this experience have been as follows :

I. Surround Yourself With Like-minded People

This is a game changer. Some of my closest friends are regular runners who have run multiple marathons and half marathons. Talking to them conditioned me into believing that running the half marathon is a very doable task and not an unscalable peak. This was important because when I shared this goal with non-runners their reaction usually was “That’s crazy! I could never!”

II. One Step At A Time

21 kilometers sounds intimidating. Yes and no. It is till it isn’t. Start small. That first step you take is the hardest yet more powerful than you think! I started training on 9th March 2019 and my first run was a 1 kilometer walk which left me quite out of breath. With time, I kept increasing the distance until I hit my goal.

III. Filter Out (Well-Meaning) Advice

Your closest people are the likeliest to tell you don’t do it. This isn’t because they don’t love you but precisely because they do. They can’t imagine you doing something so bold because they’ve never done it and can’t comprehend you doing it. They don’t want to see you fail or get hurt. Their well-meaning advice could be counterproductive. In such a case don’t feel guilty to tell them to keep their trap shut. Someone very close to me told me a day before the run, “If you feel that you can’t complete the run it’s okay.” As well-meaning as it was, it was useless advice so I thanked them for sharing. I also told them to never to say that to me again. This is about you, not them.

IV. Find A Sustainable Motivator

Before taking on any marathon task (Yes I intended that pun) find a strong, sustainable reason to do it. A shallow motivator will only keep you going for a day, a week or a month at best. I signed up for the run to prove to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to. By skipping training, I was sending a message to myself that I don’t take my own word seriously. It got me to tie my laces and walk out of my condo when I absolutely didn’t want to run.

V. The Mind Wins Over The Body

The night before the event, I developed a fever. I ran with a sniffling nose, severely restricting my breathing. My legs pretty much gave up after the 16th kilometer and I wanted to lie down on the road. I ran the last 5 kilometers forcing myself to smile. The picture shows what I thought was a smile appeared to be a painful grimace on the outside but it helped me!

VI. This Journey Is Personal

26,000 people ran the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Everyone had a different reason, a different story behind doing it. Just because your story is different from others, doesn’t make anyone’s journey more or less significant.

As clichéd as it sounds, if you will it, you can make it happen!

If I can do it, anybody can.

Personally, I don’t love running yet. I don’t feel passionate about it but I can see why it has a cult following. For me, running the Half Marathon was about proving a point - that I can do anything I want.

October 2020 I will return to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Run. This time to run the full marathon i.e 42 kilometers.

Why? Simply because I can do anything I want to.

On a lighter note, it’s pretty satisfying to be able to look at my runner acquaintances who consider themselves to be God’s gift to humanity and say “Yeah no biggie I ran one as well.”

Shomik Roy is a Toronto based revenue expert specialising in scaling up revenue and operations in Toronto’s exciting startup ecosystem. He stops to pet every dog he meets because he thinks it is absolutely crucial to do so.