Saturday, May 9, 2009 was a special day for me as it marked my first race as a Train for Humanity athlete and as a runner.

I have never been much of a sports guy: games like soccer scare me; I’m usually the lousy player ruining my team’s chances for winning. And even though I’m from Finland, I barely know how to ski. That’s why I’ve been so surprised by running and the effect training for an event has had on me.

I have been experimenting with running for a few months in the past year or two — starting enthusiastically and then giving up after a while. But even though the habit never really survived in the past, I always felt that there was something special about running: unlike sports in general, I liked it.

So, on last year’s new year’s eve, I made the decision to pick up running again. And to protect myself from giving up, I took some precautions: On the very day, I signed up for Helsinki City Run, a half marathon event run in Helsinki every May. This made me accountable to more than just myself. And I got myself a training program to follow from week one and taped it on my fridge.

Fast forward four months and a few days and it’s May 9. The training had been good, except for the last week, when I was preparing for my son’s second birthday, buying myself a bike, and thus could find no good time for running. On top of all that, the half marathon day dawned with heavy rain. I was sure this was the doomsday and all my running would go in vain.

Around 1 PM, I hopped on the bus and made it downtown to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in time for the warm up session at 2:15. My spirit started getting higher as I saw the ten thousand other participants getting ready for the race, listened to the commentator cheering us, and put on my running gear.

The race itself was nothing like I had feared. It was pure fun: I started slowly in the last starting group without any clear goal in mind. Secretly I was hoping to complete in under two and half hours, but I had told everyone, including myself, that my main goal was just to finish the race and not have to walk. The team spirit between the runners was supportive, people were chatting with each other, and I overheard some ladies talk about their training and how their longest runs so far had been around 13 kilometers. I’m sure they did OK in the race as well, but somehow, hearing that made me feel confident and happy about the 19 km run I had done just two weeks earlier.

After getting halfway through the race, I started adding speed little by little, feeling comfortable about the distance, thinking this would go well. The only thing I was afraid of was my left knee: it had been misbehaving lately and I was scared it would start to hurt during the race. Luckily, it didn’t give up on me and in the last few kilometers, I ended up passing by quite a few other runners.

Running through the gates of the Olympic Stadium and sprinting the last 100 meters was an unbelievable moment. There it was: the goal of an actual, real race! This time I wasn’t a spectator anymore. I was a participant, and I had just completed 21,1 kilometers. Half of the full marathon distance! My final time was 2:23:01, and even though it’s still far from perfect, it makes me happy: I feel I’m a runner now!

This is not the end, it’s the beginning

It was great to complete my first race, but even better was knowing that I could now start training for the next, putting the stakes higher and keeping improving. And, I’m way behind my Train for Humanity sponsorship goals: $30 is a start, but I’m still missing $970. To get there, I think, I need to keep running.

So, yesterday, I paid the fee for my next event, Finlandia Marathon, a full marathon that takes place in Jyväskylä, the central Finland town where my parents live; three rounds around the Jyväsjärvi lake in the middle of the city.

The training continues, and if everything goes as it should, nine months after that original new year’s resolution, I’ll be running my first marathon. Stay tuned, check out my athlete page, and consider sponsoring my training. Just like my training continues, so does the crisis in Darfur. The need is big, so let’s use the means we have to do our share in helping out.