The rush of running
Women revel in the exhilaration of running and racing, and age is no barrier at all.
THIS Sunday, Shima Hassan Marcy will be running her sixth half-marathon at the Nestle Fitnesse Malaysian Women Marathon at I-City in Shah Alam. The grandmother of three started running just three years ago after her nephew persuaded her to join him on his runs.
At first, her running was sporadic. As with most beginner runners, Shima started off with shorter distances. In June 2010, just months after she began running, Shima ran in her first race – a 10 km run. “When I crossed the finish line, I felt so proud of myself. Proud that I could complete the race ...I never thought I would be able to do it,” she says.
Four months after her first race however, Shima received devastating news: she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “At first, I thought I was going to die, you know. But then, I forced myself to stop thinking that way and decided to fight. I decided to go all out and not give in to the disease. I started running ...this time, more seriously. In fact, 18 days after my operation to remove my lymph nodes, I did a 10km run at the Penang Bridge race. Even through my chemotherapy and radiotherapy, I ran. I felt a bit sick at times, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could still do it through my illness. I wanted to push my limits,” she recalls.
This June, Shima is planning to run her first full marathon and in November, she has her eyes set on a 50km race.
“I turn 55 this year and I want to make sure I try everything!” she says during an interview last Sunday morning, after her routine 10km training run around the Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur. “Running rejuvenates me. It makes me feel good and it has changed me a lot, I would say ...both physically and emotionally.”
To train, Shima hikes every morning during the week and on the weekends, she runs with her daughter and running partner, Freda.
“On weekdays, I wake up at four in the morning and after having my coffee and saying my morning prayers, I head (from Cheras, Kuala Lumpur) to Bukit Gasing in Petaling Jaya to go hiking with a friend. During the weekends, I run.”
Shima doesn’t see her age as a barrier to running even further distances in the future. “I don’t think it has anything to do with age. Anything is difficult the first time you do it no matter how old you are. As with everything, you need to train,” she says emphatically.
All around the world, runners aged 50 and over represent one of the fastest-growing age groups participating in runs. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal late last year, there was an 18% hike in the number of race finishers in marathons over the last two decades (the total number of runners, regardless of age, doubled during that same time frame). In the ING New York Marathon last year, one of every five finishers was over 50.
“I think women should run, regardless of age. It relieves the stress of daily life and everything we go through,” says Shima.
Close to 2,000 runners will be taking part in the inaugural Nestle Fitnesse Malaysian Women Marathon this Sunday, aimed at getting more women involved in running. There are three categories in the race: the full marathon, the half marathon and an 8km run. Though men are welcome to run the race, their role will be to pace the women runners.
Avid runner Meyyappa Manickam, 31, is looking forward to his role as pacer for friend and fellow halfmarathoner Veronica Schokman this Sunday. Meyyappa, who has run an average of 10 races a year for the last 20 years, is regarded by his fellow runners as a “fast runner” who pushes himself to be ahead of the pack. His personal best time for a half marathon is one hour 35 minutes, and three hours 58 minutes for a full marathon. This is the first race Meyyappa will be trying very hard to run slowly.
“I am really happy to be a part of this race. I am always looking for something different in a race and usually, I am just running for myself ...to better my timing and to improve my fitness levels. This time, my role is to pace Veronica in her race ...to support her through the run and I am really honoured to be doing it,” he says.
For Schokman, the race will mark her return to running after taking a year off to travel.
“This is me getting back into the race,” says the personal trainer who has run a full marathon and many half-marathons since she took up running eight years ago.
“I’ve always been an active, outdoorsy person. I’ve worked in fitness for close to 30 years but I only picked up running in 2005 after a close friend of mine passed away from a heart attack. It was a wakeup call … I decided to do something that worked my heart a bit more and that’s when I joined Runners Malaysia (a running community that supports runners and aims to promote running in Malaysia). I started with 5km runs and then graduated to 10km and 21 km runs,” says Schokman, 48.
Schokman considers herself well and truly hooked on running now. Apart from being a good workout for the body, she finds running a very “accessible” form of exercise which anyone, provided they are in good health, can do.
“There are no hard and fast rules to running. You have the freedom to run fast or slow or even to walk if you feel tired. It is also a cheap sport ...all you need is to invest in a good pair of shoes and you’re set. You can run anywhere and at any time. And, if you join a group, running can be really fun,” she says.
Although she runs regularly with her running mates, Schokman feels that signing up for races is an important motivating factor.
“When you are running a race, you are motivated to train regularly. Because I took a break from running races last year, I didn’t run very regularly. I’d plan to run with friends ...but then, if the weather looked bleak, we’d call the run off. There was nothing to push us. But once you sign up for a race, you have to train. You have to put in the mileage, rain or shine,” she says.
Schokman feels the Malaysian Women Marathon is a positive step in getting more women to run.
“It’s a good thing to advocate fitness and a healthy lifestyle among women. In most races, the majority of runners are men. This race will, hopefully, motivate more women to run. At the gym, you have guided workouts to help you reach your goal but running is the best way to get fit,” she says.
As a fitness trainer, Schokman however cautions runners, particularly beginners, not to push themselves too far, too soon. “Most injuries occur because the body isn’t ready for it yet. If you haven’t been running and you, all of a sudden, start hammering yourself and pushing yourself hard, you will end up getting injured. I’d advise people to build up their training really slowly. Increase your speed and your distance by just 10% each week. Don’t feel that you have to be at your best all the time. Allow the body to recover,” she says.
For more information on the run, visit www.facebook.com/ MalaysiaWomenMarathon. Capital FM (part of the Star Media Group) is the main sponsor for this marathon.