OCTOBER 31 • 2019 | 5
I
n a burst of perhaps
slightly misplaced opti-
mism back in January,
when my yearly mantra of
“This will really be my year to
get thin and be healthy” was
still firm, I signed up to do
the Detroit Free Press (Freep)
international half marathon.
I trained in total for about,
oh, three weeks. Maybe four.
And then, you know, life hap-
pened. Valentine’
s Day choc-
olates went on sale. Purim.
Pesach. The summer.
Every few weeks, I’
d get a
burst of inspiration and start
training again with renewed
vigor until the next curveball
would hit — and I’
d stop.
I joined Team TAV (a
group that runs the Freep
and raises money for Detroit
Chesed Project’
s The Spot, a
local respite program for kids
with special needs). That gave
me a fresh burst of energy for
a few high-energy weeks …
Until I lost momentum yet
again.
Then, suddenly, it was race
day — Oct. 20 — and I was
completely unprepared. Still,
I turned up, ready to give it
my best shot. Figured I’
d walk
maybe five or six miles, then
quit. But that’
s not quite what
happened.
Turns out that when 10,226
international half marathon
runners from 72 countries
and all 50 states turn up in
the early morning darkness
while everyone sensible is
sleeping, it creates a certain
energy. There’
s an incredible
camaraderie. Everyone may
have different reasons and
motivations, but we’
re head-
ing to the same place. There’
s
a giddiness; we must be nuts,
but we’
re in it together! It
takes on a fever of its own;
you can feel it, and it propels
you forward.
The international route
crosses the Ambassador
Bridge, goes a few miles
around Windsor and then
loops through the Detroit-
Windsor tunnel back to the
U.S. for another few miles.
We super-slowpokes were
instructed to board the
“weary wagon” and were
driven through the tunnel
because it had to reopen at a
certain time.
But, after that mile or
so, we were dumped rather
unceremoniously back in
Detroit and were told to get
ourselves to the finish line
— and we did! (I have a 13.1
bumper sticker, but I crossed
it out and wrote 12, for accu-
racy’
s sake.)
I couldn’
t have done it
without someone to walk
with the entire time; our
conversation helped drown
out the sound of my legs
complaining. My ice-break-
ing question was, “Have
you done this before?” I
knew I’
d made a friend
when Debra’
s answer was,
“Well, I signed up to do it
last year, but wound up in
Providence Hospital having
surgery instead.” Which,
believe it or not, was my
exact experience, too. We
even share the same mid-
dle name and see the same
gynecologist (Hellooooo, Dr.
Schoenberger!!). You cover a
lot of topics in four hours!
There were more than
4,000 volunteers handing out
water and Gatorade, lining
up to give us high fives, and
thousands of cheering spec-
tators cracking us up with
their signs, like “You run
better than the government!”
,
“That’
s a lot of work for a free
banana!” and “
All toenails go
to heaven.”
Finallllllly, we made it.
Debra sprinted ahead for
a high finish, but I limped
across that finish line, coming
in 10,215th (which thrilled
me to bits because at least I
wasn’
t last!). I got my medal,
hugged my new friends, took
some pictures, got some
snacks (including my free
banana) and then faced the
second hardest challenge of
the day: trying to remember
where I’
d parked.
All in all, it was an awe-
some experience. I’
m still
flying on the amazement that
I accomplished something
I didn’
t really think I could,
and I am excitedly making
plans for next year.
Lesson for life: YOU. CAN.
DO. ANYTHING! So long as
you’
re not too afraid to try …
and even if you’
re not as pre-
pared as you’
d like to be.
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Views
Views
A step in the right direction.
Rochel “I Did It!” Burstyn, left,
with friends at the end of the
Freep
half marathon
COURTESY ROCHEL BURSTYN
for openers
My First Half Marathon
More Rabbis in
‘
The Woods’
We loved your article on rabbis
living in Huntington Woods.
We were, however, disappoint-
ed to see Rabbi Aaron Leib,
the principal of Farber Hebrew
Day School’
s elementary and
middle school, was not includ-
ed. Could have had lucky
number 13!
—Rebecca, Gil, Nava, Ami,
Nili and Atara Feldman
Huntington Woods
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