Friday Focus: Life is a marathon

— by Nettie La Belle-Hamer, interim vice chancellor for research

That life is a marathon rings true for me in so many ways. I am a marathoner and I have been on this Earth for longer than most of the people who will read this. With the Equinox Marathon coming just around the corner, this has been on my mind a lot!

I find it ironic that I began doing marathons because of cancer. My first marathon was with zero preparation and even less forethought; I didn’t hesitate when a friend who had just successfully made it through her cancer treatment called and asked me to walk the Equinox race with her as a celebration. It was the Thursday before the Saturday Equinox. It was joyous and triumphant and totally painful  — no regrets. We were in it together. I thought I was one and done with marathons and cancer. Silly old bear. 

Four years later, I found myself signing up to run a marathon in memory of my father and father-in-law with Team in Training, the fundraising arm of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I’d lost them both through complications from blood cancers over the course of a year and a half. This time I trained for and ran the Equinox Marathon with my team by my side and my family in my heart. It was healing and triumphant and not as painful with a summer of training! I’ve been with Team and Training ever since that first summer in 2011. Six marathons, over a dozen half-marathons, and countless miles later — no regrets. I have learned so much and met so many amazing people — I thank God I found Team in Training! I found a team to be a part of  — once purple, always purple.

Tomorrow morning, I will be at the start of the historical, first-ever Equinox Half Marathon. It has been seven months since my own cancer treatment ended and I was declared cancer free. I am still recovering from the cancer treatment, so I will be walking this time. But, I am full of gratitude that I am here and able to walk. I know it will be hard and painful, yet I am looking forward to being on the trail again with so many fellow runners, walkers and survivors. There will be people supporting and cheering, who bring joy, laughter, and positive energy to the long journey for all involved. A whole community united for a day on the beautiful trails!

A week ago marked the anniversary of 9/11, an event that created a marathon of its own on a national scale. The shock, fear, anger and grief we felt that day are not gone. Recovery is a marathon, or maybe an ultra marathon … or, maybe recovery is the wrong term as it implies a return to the same condition. Very few of us will ever be the same. Reclamation may be better. Reclaiming our sense of safety, freedom and leadership is a long process indeed. Personally, I am still out on that trail. But like the Equinox tomorrow, I am with fellow marathoners and supported along the way by both friends and strangers. That mass casualty event brought unity to many Americans who do not have the same political or religious views. We stand together and remember.

Almost two years ago the world woke up to a pandemic. Many people assumed it would be short-lived, that we would resume our normal lives in a couple of weeks or a month. However, this is a marathon on a global scale with a much higher casualty rate. Yet people around the world are divided on how we should be handling it. Personal politics, religion, trust in science, and views on the value of individual freedom versus social responsibility divide us. Not just in the U.S., but across the globe. The stakes are high and the struggle is real. This is a race we cannot win if we remain at odds with each other, losing focus on the real enemy that attacks us all, regardless of our personal views. COVID doesn’t care who you are or what you think; it doesn’t care what color you are. (Race is a social construct not a biological one, and we seem to have trouble remembering that). In this marathon I believe that if we can just change the focus to the common enemy, and not our differences, then we can figure out a way forward that is respectful of us as individuals while supporting the community. This is also a marathon of reclamation and we will need to stand together, and remember.

I often think about the African proverb, “If you want to run fast, run alone. If you want to run far, run together.” Life is a marathon that we are running together. Life is often joyful, sometimes painful, and — I hope for all of you reading this  — very, very long. See you on the trails.

Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week.