Running: My life’s Swiss knife

Running is the Swiss knife of my life. Turning 65 by the end of the year, I have been running for the last 33 years now. What started as a pact between two friends in 1987 has eventually become a long-time passion.

In the past three decades, I have finished three marathons — two in Manila, 1992 and 2011. The third one was in Bangkok in 2018.

In my first 42k run, I would never forget my time — parang sardinas — 5:55. Five hours and 55 minutes. And in my second run, after 19 years, I shaved off 40 minutes to 5:15. On my third marathon, seven years later, it took me 5:40.

Why do I call running the Swiss knife of my life? For at least six reasons:

1) Running is time with friends. At age 32, I started running. My best friend and I decided to run to improve our health. We used to be office mates at a publishing company in West Capitol Drive, Pasig.

But after I moved to another publishing house, I still wanted to get in touch with him. And we agreed to run at the University of Life oval, which was just 15 minutes away from my new office, OMF Literature Inc. in Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong.

So after office hours, about five of us from OMF Lit and my best friend would meet and run at least three times a week. When we became regular in our running, we formed our own runners’ group and called it SAPAK—“Samahan ng mga Patakbuhin!” But we were not just “mga patakbuhin.” Two of our members finished the full marathon a year later after SAPAK was formed.

2) Running is my medicine. I took up running for health reasons. High blood runs on my father’s side. His eldest brother died of a heart attack. He was only in his late 50s.

That made me more serious about running. I was literally running for my life

On my mother’s side, the problem is diabetes. So I had to fight this with the help of regular exercise.

And when I started having bouts of depression, running helped me a lot. It gives me a natural high, which I need in order not to be discouraged and be in despair.

3) Running is my source of ideas. Some of my best thoughts had come while I was running. When preparing sermons for the church, I would use the time to think about the message of the assigned Bible passage.

It was while running that I came up with SAPAK and another term, “LIBROkado.” This is similar to “edukado.” You get your education through your wide and diverse reading.

I read somewhere — the better the legs, the better the brain. There is a correlation between running and good ideas.

4) Running is my way of exploring a new place. I worked with Open Doors, a faith-based organization which helps the persecuted church worldwide, for 25 years, and my job entailed a lot of traveling—Bhutan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Nepal, India, Turkey, etc.

When I’m new in a place, I would run to explore the area. I would run at 5 a.m.—since the bad guys were still sleeping — and be more familiar with the area so that I would not get lost. I would also look for the nearest grocery, hospital, police station, food shops, among others.

5) Running is my health insurance. I have noticed all these years that if I am regular in my running, the less sick I tend to get. Nowadays, it pays not to get sick. Or else you will be absent from work. Or you may need to buy expensive medicines, or even go to the hospital. So in not getting sick, you are saving a lot of money, effort, and time.

6) Running is my way of loving God with all my strength. In the great commandment, we are told to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

And since my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), I need to take good care of it.

Why do I run? Because I need to keep fit. Our bodies are made to move. We are designed to stretch, walk, run, and do a lot more activities. Most of us live sedentary lives—work at the office, and take the car, taxi, bus, jeepney, or tricycle. And spend a lot of time watching TV and Netflix.

During my early years of running, I bought an Argus inspirational poster which said: “The race is not to the swift but to those who keep on running.”

And by the grace of God, I hope to keep on running in the coming years.

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JSC Gonzales, 64, has been running for more than three decades now.