My Home Away From Home

At first, I just liked to run. It was something I had done for soccer and other sports, but I never gave it much thought. Until, my elementary school hosted a 1 mile Turkey Trot when I was in the 3rd grade. The top 2 from each race won a real turkey, and I can just remember thinking to myself, “Man, if I won that turkey, I could have it all to myself on Thanksgiving”. As the starter said, “GO!”, I automatically found myself sprinting as fast as could. I can remember the feeling of my body moving through space, and the wind rushing past me. As I came to the finish line, I realized that not only had I won, but that running was surprisingly fun and I might actually want to run some more. My mindset changed that day, the need and want to be fast caused me to see things in a different light. This mindset eventually evolved into knowing that I would try to outrun anyone who toed the line next to me. 

The thing about running is that you can do it anywhere. Growing up in a military household, meant that I moved around from state to state. While, I still tried to participate in other sports, I couldn’t always join a team or get enough practice. There is only one thing that stayed constant to me, running. I could run wherever I wanted to, with no one stopping me, no mandatory practices, and no one around me. It hit me close to home, that wherever my family moved, or traveled I’d always be able to run. That feeling of the wind rushing past me would still be there wherever I went. Running became such a wonderful feeling to me, it was like being home in a sense. It’s a feeling of acceptance and lovingness for what you’re doing no matter what. With that I’ve come to realize no matter where I in the world or what was happening around me, I’d always have running to call my safe haven. 

Along with that, I would say that running is my thing in my family. My parents had been high school and eventually college athletes for just about every sport. Of their combined athletic resumes, competitive running appeared to be absent. They simply stated, “running wasn’t their thing”. Since that I’ve decided running was going to my thing, that this sport was going to make me an individual in this family of athletes. That I was going to take the road less traveled by and start running. 

I can think back to sophomore year of high school, and I had been able to make it to the state meet as the 3rd leg in our 4x800 relay. This was huge for me as I had never made it to the track state meet before in my life. As I waited on the line to receive the baton, I was suddenly struck with the same feeling I had back in the 3rd grade before the Turkey Trot. The instinct of wanting, yearning, even aching to win. I wanted to win, I needed to win. No matter who I had to outrun, or how much pain I had to undergo to do so. As the baton hit my hand with force, I took off. At this time my team was in 5th place, and all I was thinking about it catching up to the front runner. All the while thinking, “I’m going to catch him, I need to catch him” as I pushed myself around the track. I’m feeling invincible at this point, my legs were feeling great, and I can feel that same wind rushing past me. Suddenly, I’m right behind the front runner with 200 meters to go, and I made the decision to sit on him before I make my move. The final turn approaches, I can feel my heart beating fast, and my lungs burning, but I floor it anyway. I come up along side him, and all I can feel is the power my body is emulating. In this feeling I truly knew that running was something I was born to do. As the finish line approaches I suddenly feel like I have just one more gear to switch into, just a little bit more to give in the final 10 meters. I surge ahead by only feet and hand my baton off to my awaiting anchor leg. As my hands reached for the top of my head I had felt as if I had just won the lottery. I had done it, I overtook the front runner. I helped my team get into a better position by accomplishing my own personal goal. As our anchor broke across the line I found out we had taken 3rd place overall. I can remember running up to our anchor with the rest of the relay to my sides and almost tackling him to the ground as we celebrated our individual team efforts.

All the early morning practices, late night runs, never ending core workouts, team dinners, long bus rides, he “one mores”, and not only believing in myself but also the team as a whole had paid off. The feeling of belonging I had always been searching for while I zigzagged across the country is something I had finally found in running. The feeling of knowing that I had found a home no matter where I was in not only my teammates, but also just the fellow runners around me was truly indescribable. The running community as a whole gave me something I had never before in my life, a permanent home

- @VadnaisBob ( Robert Vadnais )