Rasha Sabkar could very well be the first Bahraini woman to cross the finish line of the New York Marathon!
Last Sunday we followed updates on the run via her sister on twitter @MaysoonMS who kept updating us with the happenings of the race. The marathon was set across the city of New York with a track of 42.16 Km (26.2 miles)!
I wanted to know more about how she got the idea and what kept her going, so I emailed Rasha.
She replied back, and I just couldn't bring myself to edit it. I think she says it best.
"When I lived in New York, I used to run in Central Park. It was a beautiful place to be, and there were people running constantly. There was an addictive energy about it. After I moved to Bahrain I found that the weather for most of the year made it difficult to run outside, so I stopped running for many years. A few weeks after having my third child by cesarean section, someone asked me if I would like to participate in the Bahrain Marathon Relay. I thought they were joking, but they insisted that I would be able to do it, despite the surgeries. And sure enough, I started running again, trained for a few weeks, then ran in the relay. I then started running at the gym, mostly to lose weight through cardio exercise, but it became an enjoyable part of my week, an "escape". I started thinking that I need a goal, something to run for. New York is a very special place for me so the decision to run the NY marathon seemed a natural one.
I started seriously training for the NY marathon in June 2011. I did almost all of my runs in the early morning, to try to simulate the race time as much as possible.
The race was challenging in every way. Physically, the second half was tiring. Mentally, I had to stay focused on the end. Not finishing was not an option, so I kept looking for that next mile marker. It was also a strategic challenge – I had to pace myself, I had to remain hydrated, I had to keep my sugar levels up, and I had to watch for potholes so I wouldn't get injured. But I did it!
What's next for me? I will go back to running for exercise a few times a week. But I doubt I would do another marathon. I achieved my goal, and now it's time for a different one."
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