Week 1: Initiation

It's final then. I have decided to run it this year.
So I attend the kick-off at Sports Basement, a sports store I did not even know existed (and its virutally just behind my office). What do you know, there actually is a sports store besides Big5 and Sports Authority! Oh Well..
Sports Basement turns out to be a rather large store that supports charitable organizations like ASHA and provides the means to hold meetings and clinics.
There are plenty of people already there, including a few familiar faces. I meet Medha who first told me about all this. She introduces me to a few of the ASHA alumni. I begin to feel comfortable. So far so good!


Next comes the part where they make us sit and listen to speeches. Only in this case, I'm actually interested. The coaches come and talk about running a marathon, the importance of training, proper diet, proper attire. A variety of people come up and talk about their experiences with training and running the marathon, how rewarding the whole experience was, how it changed their life in some instances. In fact, there's so much asha in the eyes of every asha member I meet, I begin to think I'm joining a cult. Visions form before me of us sitting in a circle around a fire under the full moon chanting 'asha' while dressed in hooded robes (dry-fit wicking ones of course). I've seen way too many movies. But I digress..
This is no cult, as the next speaker talks about the eventual goal of ASHA, which is to raise money for children in India who cannot even get a basic education. We are just the means to that end.