Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2013
What an event! Music blaring, multitudes of team colours swirling, palpable energy in the air…25,000 people participating from over 60 countries, 180 charities. Everyone excited, pumped, with smiles of anticipation and concentration on their faces, all ages represented. Excitement…20 minutes to start10…5…waiting for the starter’s pistol…
Roadrunner…the coyote’s after you… roadrunner…if he catches you you’re through…the song sets them off…the rainbow colours of the many teams flash past…purple, pink, yellow, blue, white, and lime for Moorelands. All of a sudden I’m overwhelmingly proud to have become part of this outpouring of
goodwill towards my fellow man; I’m humbled that an effort on my part will help raise $3.2M
for people that I don’t know and will never meet.
I hadn’t understood what a charity marathon meant, until I became one of the thousands who were running and walking for a cause they believed in. I realized that by expending our collective physical efforts, we were able in some small way to help strangers. Many ran beyond exhaustion, through agonizing pain. Others unable to run, walked beyond their endurance levels. A stunning revelation that by physically exerting ourselves, we were bettering mankind. Such grand words, nevertheless a reality. I’m so grateful to have participated in this amazing display of creative kindness. I was swept up on a wave of goodwill to help a fellow human being have a chance of a better life; be it an assaulted woman in need, a cancer patient, an orphan in Africa, or a poor child in my city of Toronto.
I celebrate both the marathoners and the sponsors, the people lining the course who cheered us on, the volunteers who worked the booths and stations, the event organizers…a collective effort. Crossing the finish line, I was reminded of the truism that the power of many is greater than the sum of its parts. The STWM Charity Challenge is all about helping humanity. It helped me rediscover mine.
– Natasha Bronfman