Free & Fit Challenge 2018 - The Reason I Run - by Tim Chew
Free & Fit Challenge 2018 - The Reason I Run - by Tim Chew the Founder of Sports Communities Faith & Fitness London and Free & Fit New York City.
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 14:1 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. Its a Sunday morning in peak British heat, the crowds are coming through the turnstiles as the men and the women of the London marathon come bundling through to the finish line and my Mum, having completed the brutal 26.2 mile distance, arrives without a sweat on her forehead and at the same pace she averaged around the course. Quite remarkable. My Mum was not always a keen sports person or long distance runner. When she was younger she was more renowned for her dancing, attending parties and she even used to be a smoker earlier in life. In her adult years she would host dinner parties and although a keen badminton player, she started distance running much later in life. Margaret, my Mums first name, was a huge hit at her running club in Stopsley Striders where she still holds records for the best 5K, 10K, 10Mile and 1/2 marathon distances in the over fifty age group.
However, what people don’t know is my perspective on my Mums running from my teenage years. Rarely would a day go by when my Mum would go running and I wouldn’t comment on how lonely the sport was and how I would never go running because it wasn’t a team sport. I was 100% against running. Don’t get me wrong I loved sport and would play everyday soccer, go swimming, cycling, play tennis, badminton and other individual non team sports. Yet for some reason I would always find an excuse or a reason to criticize my Mums love for running. How foolish I was, my Mums example, dedication and excellent running records hold out long after her retirement from running. Just to give you context of her excellent running record her personal best for a marathon over fifty was three hours and twenty three minutes. Quite exemplary. Today my Mum cycles, walks and takes her wonderful dog Woody on long trail routes around the beautiful Cotswolds countryside near to where she lives in Gloucestershire. Regularly exercising, getting involved in community sports and building deep and meaningful relationships with the locals in her area. My Mum is a fine example of a leader, athlete and how to be a Mother. The impact of her running on my life? Its completely changed. This year I enter my seventh marathon, my first in the US and like my Mum I prefer to run by the sea or in the countryside so I cant wait to enter the Atlantic City marathon this October. Mum, without your example or excellence, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Truly, thank you! You are always have been and always will be a good example for so many who know you, meet you and interact with you. Happy London Marathon day! About the Free & Fit Challenge The Free and Fit course has been created to build strong social skills, charge healthy physical bodies and to instil a well balanced and sound mind. Participants who complete the full course over 12 sessions will learn how to work effectively with their team members to build strong values of power, love, and self discipline. Free & Fit Mission To reduce loneliness through Sports, the Arts, Social Justice and Service. Free & Fit Vision The vision of free and fit course is to engage, motivate, improve and hence find freedom in a physical and spiritual state. As such the freedom that leads to a peaceful heart; leads to a healthy body. The course is built upon the core value of learning together to be disciplined and motivated in our faith as well as our fitness. Free & Fit Website: https://www.freenfit.org/ Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCf4gjFopw_eyr6-w7c3bxiQ Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pg/freeandfitchallenge Twitter&Instagram: @freeandfitnyc Email: freeandfitnyc@gmail.com Freedom // Fitness // Fellowship Free & Fit Challenge © Copyright 2017 Free & Fit NYC/NJ © Copyright 2017 Free & Fit London © Copyright 2017
