“Fasten your seatbelt, please”, said a cabin crew member as the flight was preparing us for landing. It was almost midday and the sun was shining, setting up the mood perfectly as we looked out the windows to see the skyscrapers of Chicago. We were thousands of miles away from home on a journey that would revolve around a passion of ours. It was, and still is, amazing to think that we were halfway across the world for one reason. RUNNING.
Our Journey
We have been running for a couple of years now, and for the most part of it, we had great fun. But do not get us wrong, our relationship with running has not always been perfect. Like most people, we started off hating running. After all, what’s there to like about running? It is sweaty, tiring and time-consuming, not to mention the occasional injuries you get from running and the amount of laundry you have to do so that your Lycra can keep up.
However, like most runners, we came to eventually love the sport. Nothing beats the satisfaction of completing your runs. “I regret doing that run,” said no one ever. Regardless if you do a two-mile run or a marathon, you will finish it with a victorious feeling.
The good thing about running is that it does not discriminate your distance and pace. Everyone with different abilities and background can enjoy the sport. There is no running event that we can single out that has the young but not the old, the elites but not the tortoises, the muscular but not the, well, not so muscular. This is why we love running so much.
However, running can be lonely sometimes. With the hustle and bustle of a city life, running means waking up in the early hours and sacrificing your Friday night-out with friends. There’s always that awkward moment when you have to refuse your colleague’s post-work drinks. “I’m sorry, I’m running later” might sound more like avoiding, even though it is a very valid excuse. For these reasons, they classify us, runners, rightly or wrongly, as anti-social.
But you do not have to be. Our solution was simple: run with friends. Back in 2013, we were starting to take running more seriously (by serious we mean to run at least twice a week for longer than 5km). We found it harder and harder to fit in a running session in our lifestyle and grew frustrated by it. That was when we started texting three others to run together regularly on Friday nights. We agreed.
We were soon joined by a local amateur rugby club who wanted to improve their fitness. We also started asking our friends and office mates if they would like to run. Some joined and when they liked the vibe within the group, they invited their friends and office mates in. A group of five friends soon grew into a larger group and that was how Kyserun Krew was born. Our aim was simple: to inspire others to run and enjoy the sport.
Kyserun Krew is probably the single most important part of our running journey to date. Two years on, the group is closer than ever. We constantly support each other and it is not just a community, but a family. There is no ego within the group and you know this when the faster members are being cheered on and the slower members are being celebrated.
When the ballot for the 2015 Chicago Marathon opened, the group started texting each other to put our names into it (something common every time a race opens for registration). Admittedly, we were just trying our luck without the full intention to actually run it.“CHICAGO, are you kidding?! It is thousands of miles and ringgits away!
On 28 April 2015, the ballot results came in and we received a spot in the prestigious race. A few hours later, we paid the registration fee. Maybe it was because of the hype of the moment. But it was mostly because we knew that we would be doing it together and we would have the support of the crew.
Fast forward to 11 October 2015, we were at the starting line of the 2015 Chicago Marathon. It was a half-baked idea that turned into reality. We were nervous and excited all at the same time. Back home in Malaysia, it was almost midnight. But Kyserun Krew members were on their laptop screens and iPhone apps, ready to track Haziq and Wazien.
