I’ve always loved sport!
In early school days, no matter the discipline, interacting and playing would lighten up any day. During youth I’ve been very lucky my parents always fostered physical activities: gymnastics, judo, roller hockey, handball… the list goes on especially when considering informal gatherings with friends: soccer, cycling, basketball, …
Running in a more strict sense came along only when I started working abroad. In a foreign country, my daily routine turned pretty much into waking up early morning, labouring the whole day, looking for a restaurant for a swift dinner and hitting the hotel bed very late at night. With less than a handful of fellow colleagues around, social sports wasn’t particularly an easy option. After 6 months of a sedentary lifestyle, something had to change!
Olympiapark in Munich, Germany, a sports beacon in the city
The year was 2003 and a German colleague sitting in the desk in front of me in Munich, briefly mentioned he was going to run a marathon with his girlfriend. A marathon! I remember commenting how tough that should be and getting a reply “If you’re just starting to run, you should buy a heart rate monitor. You’ll be amazed on how slow you have to run to keep yourself from exploding above a reasonable threshold”.
Sometimes in life you need a moment, a special spark which triggers your imagination and sets you on a path filled with determination. “How slow you have to run”: after all it wasn’t about racing fast and being first in line. I could run slow. Perhaps I could start running… And so I did.
From that day on I haven’t stopped since.
Looking back I didn’t even realise then that I was a runner… I do however realise that today.
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