Privilege, Perseverance, and Running My First Half-Marathon

To finish off our birthday weekend (Our birthdays are one day apart), Middle Child and I ran and completed the 2025 Bay Bridge Half-Marathon: their second, my first. Calm down, runner friends, while I run, I still do not consider myself a runner. I have never loved running — and still don't.

I do, however, find running meaningful. Running these 5Ks, 10Ks, and now a half-marathon race over the past 18 months has challenged me to try hard things, motivated me to keep up with my fitness OrangeTheory regimen, and acts as a reminder of how far I have come in my health journey. But nope, I still do not love running. I do not crave running, and I certainly would not miss running. If you must label it, I would be okay with "occasional runner of races where Bruce gets a medal" 🏅😄

But don't get me wrong, even though my legs are flipping me the finger with every step, I am pretty proud of this moment and this particular race:

• I ran/jogged most of the time. I walked less than a mile, but kept my legs churning for most of the race.
• I felt pretty good physically throughout. At no point did I get out of breath. I tried to sprint at the end, and the lungs/heart were willing, but the legs went on strike.
• I was mentally chill. At no point during the race did I want to stop. The night before, I was questioning my life-choices, but during the race, I just ran my race.
• I finished. While I set a goal to finish sub-three-hours (2:46:14), I am only "competing" against myself, and crossing the finish line was good enough.

So yes, I am proud of this accomplishment, but make no mistake, I would not have been able to do this without many privileges in my life. Does that mean that I did not do anything to accomplish this? Of course not, I did a bunch of things to get ready. Does that mean that I didn't work hard? Of course, I worked hard: running, lifting, resting, eating, etc. And do my privileges cancel out any pride I should have in running 13.1 miles in a row and on purpose without dying or barfing? I hope not, because not dying or puking during exercise is always a W in my book 😄

All that said, the privileges in my life gave me a head start, allowing me to pursue this goal. The privileges of time, resources, and situation, combined with my hard work and commitment, have enabled me to get more fit, explore this running thing, and, yes, finish a race that I could never have imagined I could have finished just 18 months ago.

• Healthcare: I have shared before that the healthcare that I receive through my wife's work has saved my life. I had more than my share of life-threatening incidents and long hospital stays: long covid and pancreatitis, and there is no way that I could have been treated and eventually recovered without that healthcare. Healthcare tied to employment is a travesty and one of the most short-sighted aspects of American capitalism. It is a privilege from which I reap the benefits, but I did nothing to earn.
  Healthcare for all!
• Resources: Staying fit is often not cheap, especially as one gets older AND does not have the discipline or knowledge to do it on their own. I have the fiscal privilege to join things like OrangeTheory, which provides a structure for my fitness, and do things like StretchLab and see a chiropractor to stay on top of my body's overall health.
• Work life: While there are some downsides to this itinerate, gig life that I lead, not only does it allow me to see movies in the middle of the day and never go to CostCo on the weekends, but I have the flexiblity to set my schedule for meetings, content creation, and, yes, fitness.
• Support: I am deeply grateful for my spouse, kids, and extended family, who are super supportive of my fitness endeavors. Not everyone has this kind of support.

I share this perspective because I think it's important for us all to acknowledge the various and multiple privileges in our lives: gender, education, citizenship, etc — not to take away from what we accomplish, but to remind that other begin with far less and to provoke us into doing all that we can to make the same resources available to others — especially when it comes to the health of one's body, mind, and soul. Not everyone will take on this particular activity, but given the same head start and support, imagine what folks could and would do.

Peace,

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