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

online comments

Our Facebook followers 
reacted to the JTA story 
posted on thejewishnews.
com “Rashida Tlaib and 
Two Other ‘
Squad Members’
 
Endorse Sanders.”

STEVEN PODVOLL: 
I always thought Ayanna 
Pressley was the smartest 
member of “Justice Squad.” 
The fact that she is the only 
one of them who has with-
held from endorsing Sanders 
helps to confirm it 
.

BECKY RILEY:
I love Sanders but can’
t stand 
Rashida and Ilhan. That’
s the 
heart of my conundrum with 
Bernie. I love his domes-
tic policies but hate how 
so many of his fans are so 
anti-Israel.

The Jewish News welcomes 
feedback from our readers. 
Send a letter (300 words or 
fewer) to letters@renmedia.us 
and include your name and 
city, or comment on 
thejewishnews.com or on our 
Facebook page.

letters