Click. You are now signed up, my computer tells me. And then I start to get nervous.
Another $3,000? Another 13.1 miles? How can I do this? I think back to the last time, how did I do it? I mean I trained, sure, I ran 4 miles, but that’s far less than 13.1. And I raised the money, but it was hard! I had to send out e-mail after e-mail and bother the same people over and over again. Why am I putting myself through this again?
And then I realized that, yeah, it was hard. I woke up at 5:30 almost every morning so I could go running before school, and I sent out so many e-mails that my family started labeling my emails as spam. But I did it.
I ran with Yachad, hand in hand. That is why I am doing this again. It was hard to reach my goal, really, really hard–but everything that’s worth anything is hard. And let me tell you, this was worth it. Last year I ran for a cause, for something I love and for an organization that gives me so much more than I could ever give back to it.
I’m running again because this year, Yachad has, again, given me so much, and I want to give back just a fraction of that by running this marathon. I know why I’m running this half-marathon for Yachad, and it isn’t for no reason!
Enhance the lives of Jews with special needs: Run with or sponsor Team Yachad in the 2013 Marathon and Half-Marathon. Get inspired by people who already did.
Bethia Gindi is a senior at YULA High School in Los Angeles, and a member of Team Yachad who ran at the Miami ING Half-Marathon last year.
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.