A Cancelled Marathon

The first street of the race, empty because of the cancelled race

Picture this: It's the Skopje marathon weekend. The weekend I have been anticipating for 9 months and the goal that helped get me through my long grueling runs of 16, 18 and 21 miles. And of course it was on my bucket list to run a marathon!

Many volunteers gathered in Skopje on Saturday to help with the Regional Spelling Bee and the constant theme of conversations was the marathon the next day. You would see volunteers with carbs in hand while judging in the classrooms. It was the day before the race and we were all counting the hours.

I was both mentally and physically ready, the weather forecast seemed perfect for a Saturday in May and I had done the carb-loading. I couldn't sleep well the night before the race, with race day jitters in my stomach. I reached over and grabbed my iPad and my heart sank when I saw a message flash on the screen. It was from a fellow volunteer stating that the race was canceled because of the shootings that happened the previous day.

A rush of emotions filled my mind: I was angry with the government, disappointed in myself for all of the time and energy during training and I was sad for the race I felt like I was robbed of. I couldn't quite process everything.

The next day (race day), a fellow volunteer and I went to the starting line and met up with a another friend who was running the race. I hoped to run through the finish line but security wouldn't let me. The sun was shining and my body felt great. This added to my frustration and I still couldn't understand why they cancelled it. It took time to process it and I did begin to understand and respect the decision.

Runners organized a 10k race on their own 

I was happy to see so many runners along the river, sporting their marathon shirts. You just had to look at the other person's eyes and instantly there was an emotional connection. You could understand the disappointment without even speaking. It also made me proud though that despite of everything, there were so many runners coming together for group runs.

The runners even organized a moment of silence in respect for those who passed away the day before and then ran a 10k together.

Moment of silence 

For me, this was a lesson that we can't always control what happens in life but that you can't let it bring you down. It will slowly destroy your happiness if you do.