THE RACE OF LIFE

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I enjoy reading wknd. every week. In the last edition, I thoroughly enjoyed the analogy between running a marathon and living our lives ( 4 lessons running a marathon can teach you about life, Apr 8).

Our life is the biggest race of all — it starts in the womb and ends in the tomb; the longest marathon comprising of many races, all pieced together and crisscrossing with those of others. If we do not savour this journey, we do not live but merely exist. [ Professional tennis player] Arthur Ashe puts it well when he says, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is more important than the outcome.”

The lessons that you learn from running a marathon teach you to live life to the fullest,

even if you don’t end up ahead of everyone else in the race. It’s the small victories that matter and more importantly the betterment of the self. Preparing to run a marathon expands your horizons, as you learn to challenge yourself to endure as well as develop a ‘ can do’ attitude.

What an awesome race Joan Benoit Samuelson must have run, overcoming health issues and all obstacles to finish the race in good time — that too, 30 years after her course record! She made the impossible possible by converting “obstacles into challenges, not barriers”.

Kevin, by email

The article ‘ 4 lessons running a marathon can teach you about life’ ( Apr 8) was an easy one to absorb — especially for non- readers of self- help books who lack the patience to comprehend the