Until Today.
Today I understand why these virtual runs exist and how they can make an impact. But until I allowed myself to get past the words "never" and being stuck in my traditional ways, I did not understand. I want to explain and share the journey of my virtual run.
I have been running for 10 years now, but I consider myself a traditional runner, even though not an elite or someone making a mark in the event. I am traditional in the sense of doing a race means showing up, participating, finishing, and having a medal and swag. That is all part of the experience. I didn't understand virtual running and have always more or less balked at the idea, being one immersed in the running business. However, that changed recently, and today as I embarked on my first true virtual run, I understood its value.
I have a friend whose family is impacted directly with a child who has Kabuki Syndrome. That is not a diagnosis I had ever heard of, but now am learning of it more deeply. It's funny how that works- all these "things" that exist that we never know are a thing until we cross paths with it in life and then suddenly, it becomes an awareness. Perhaps we should all live more aware of the "things" that cross our paths, so that we can better understand the stories of the people around us.
Kabuki Syndrome is a diagnosis only 1 in 32,000 people have. It is rare. But it changes the lives of all those it touches. I don't want to write about it a lot here in this blog because I, myself, am learning of it still. But I share this background to explain how I came to believe in a virtual run.
So many times I want to do something to help people in my life I love. But I don't know how. I have learned that showing support can speak louder than empty words of advice or pushing money to fix an issue. We all just need to know that others care. As I was made aware of Kabuki Syndrome, I began to google it to learn how I could be a better support. I stumbled across the All Things Kabuki website, which was full of information and links. In the process of browsing the site to learn, I found they have a virtual 5K. Because of my love for running, I poked a little further to learn more.
I thought to myself, with my friend living in Colombia who has this interaction of Kabuki on an every day basis, and me being so far, perhaps this would be a way to show my support. So, I emailed the organizers and engaged in a conversation. I learned about the Syndrome and I learned about the event. The idea on their part was that a person registers and in the mail receives a race bib and medal and has to do the participation between Oct 1-31 because Oct. 23 is Kabuki Awareness Day. While my traditional self caved to the idea of participating, I grew excited to share this with my friend(s). Explaining what a virtual run is was hard, explaining my marathon job is always a challenge for me at times to those in another country, but trying to explain a virtual run was even harder mostly because it was my first time to really participate.
But I was growing excited in this endeavor to show a small ounce of support through something I love. (And for once not being the organizer of it!) When my bib and medal arrived, I chose that I would participate today, as my regular Saturday run. Only I would wear the bib.
It felt a little odd, putting on a race bib with no one around. There was no starting line, no flags, no banners, no finish line. No crowds and no hydration. Just me, my headphones, my race gear and my determination to learn more and support my friends. I set out on my run and soon discovered why a virtual run can make a difference.
As I entered the park, I had people asking me while I jogged past them, "Is there a run today?"
To which I was able to answer... "No, I'm participating in a virtual run to raise awareness for Kabuki Syndrome."
To which they would ask "What is that?"
And while I know next to nothing, I was able to share just the small tidbits I was learning. Then they thanked me and we parted ways. But that happened on a few occasions and I began to understand the significance of the virtual event. I encountered at least 3 people today in the park who asked about my bib which lead to sharing about Kabuki Syndrome. That's 3 (4, including me) who now know a little more. Imagine 100 people doing that!
At first, when the groups said to post photos to Facebook and such for awareness, I thought, "Cool, that will really help draw attention to it."
But as I ran in a park and people stopped me, I realized the second significance to it. People are curious, but what they don't see or what isn't shared, can't be known. And a virtual run can do that.
As I ran this event without a start or a finish line, I thought to myself how people struggling with Kabuki Syndrome don't really have a start and finish line. They have a birth and a death, but there isn't likely as many start and end point significances for them. They mostly just shine bright to those around them and change the lives they touch through their joy in spite of a syndrome. Maybe they don't even have a huge awareness of being different. I don't really know because I am really just learning about this. We define our days by start and finish. Deadlines. Goal and achievements and failure. I think we can learn a lot from those affected and touched by Kabuki Syndrome. I hope to grow in this way myself.
In some ways, my run was just an average run. Especially after taking a long pause the last several months in preparations for the Air Force Marathon and putting my own runs on hold for others to experience a great one of their own. Today became a time for me to just enjoy the crisp, fall air. To think about my friends touched by this. To pray for them. And to maybe make a small difference in some way, whether by support or by learning or both.
So, as I have come to learn... never say never. Because today I understood why a virtual run can have a large impact and significance. And maybe will even begin organizing runs a little differently with this mindset gained.
Kabuki Syndrome is real. The least I could do was use an ability I have and enjoy to reach even a few people about it.
#AllThingsKabuki
#Purpose
#Runtoraiseawareness
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