Why Run?

Why run?When you can drive or take a bus.And arrive without making a fuss.

Out of breath, legs dead.Still throbbing doubt away, moving ahead.Not about body, about heart and head.Keep your gaudy Audi with fuel fed.Sleep for me does same. Only costs a bed.

Where nightmare and reality are one, is not where you want to be.Look. Stare ahead in the horizon, where the sky meets the sea.Not a bed of roses. In deep water many hopes drown.Part it like Moses, or skip across it like a stone thrown.

Why run?When it makes your body sweat, leaves you clean out of breath.Wet with sweat, spurt jets of droplets, near death.

One step at a time. With few words in a line,a nerd makes a rhyme, blank eyes of a mime.Running blank and blind, oblivious of incline.

Heart beats a steady chime.Climbs higher on a climb.Lungs aflame, looking for a sign.None forthcoming, stars don’t align.Sweat, slime, grime, tears crying.

Why run?For runner’s high on cloud nine.Take another try, keep hope flying.

Keep moving forward. Leave the past behind with each step.Keep proving doubters wrong, be fueled by each misstep.

Don’t know where the road leads.Trust that down the line, the paths will meet.Only thing certain is, it’s ahead of where you are now.Heavy burden lugged along with head unbowed.Will grow lighter in time, stand uncowed.

Need to reach the finish line first.Each step fuelled with a spurt of burst.Burst your heart, even before you start,and see yourself topping the record chart.

Leave your heart at the start line,think “I’m running to claim what’s mine.Heart’s over the fence, rest will follow in time”Swallow the bile, no matter how vile.Run the mile in style, head held high.Cross the line and heave a sigh.

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Why run? I run because it defines me. It is who I am. That is why I run. I run because it makes me feel complete. It lends purpose to my life. It adds meaning to my life. It’s the thrill of competition. It’s the thrill to win. It’s the thrill to be recognized.

For me it was thrilling to win, it was thrilling when I was among the top 8 runners in the country at the school level. It was thrilling when I swept the field in all the track events: 5 competitions, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 2000m races and helped my school win the overall championship in the senior girl’s section. But the biggest thrill for me was when my parents were honoured as chief guests at my school Republic Day function, on account of me being the games captain of my school.

My dad said “Success is not happiness. Happiness is success”. That’s the principle he raised me by. And that’s why I run.

Running makes me happy. And you should try it too.