A love affair I can share

It was announced just this week that I will be working with  Canada Running Series as a Digital Champion.  In addition to being a running ambassador for Alan Brookes’ fantastic races, I will be using social media to chronicle my training for the Toronto Yonge St. 10K and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  I’m honoured to be included in this group of running ambassadors, all of which have unique insights and inspirational stories to help us get the most out of our shared passion—running.  

I thought I’d begin this journey by letting you in on a little “secret”—I’m in the midst of an intoxicating love affair.  Every day at 4:30am, I slip out of bed and head out the door into the arms of my lover—the dark streets of Toronto.  The moment I engage in this passion, my heart begins to race and my palms begin to sweet.  Like anyone in the throes of a love affair, I am blind to my mistress’ faults.  Sure there are the inevitable aches and strains, and even the occasional blue toenail, yet all I can think about is how alive I feel rushing into her arms.  

People who know that I’m smitten with this love affair, look upon me with pity.  When I’m darting out the door into the cold darkness, they roll over into their warm beds and drift away into dreamland.  What they don’t see is the beauty of the tranquil calm of our city’s streets, smell the brisk, unpolluted air as it fills my lungs, nor hear the crisp virgin snow crunching beneath my feet.  

Those who live in rural areas, and share the same love affair, feel sorry for us pursuing our passion in a big city like Toronto.  They regale us with tales of mounting rolling country hills and shuffling through pastoral county lanes.  I, however, couldn’t be happier crisscrossing the urban oasis of Toronto.  Running through our multicultural city is like travelling the world every day.  Leaving from our house in the Beaches, I breeze through Little India, Greektown, Chinatown, Little Italy, and back home by way of Koreatown.  Darkness can’t stop this affair because the warm glow of the street lights guides our way.  Not even snow can slow us down, as our city plows make for smooth travel even in the worst of storms.  

I invite you to join us in our intoxicating love affair.  Slip out of your comfort zone and slip into a world of freedom and passion.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I run very early in the morning seven days a week, and over the years, I’ve gotten to know a few of the other “early birds” out on our city’s streets.  One of the people I’ve come to recognize as a friendly face, is a sex trade worker who inhabits a street corner in very tough part of the city.  Whenever I see her, she waves “hello” to me as I breeze past.  Touchingly, when she saw me after the horrific events at the Boston Marathon this year, she said she was so happy to see I got home safely.  I decided to write a poem for her this summer, and I thought I would share it with you.

“Cornered”
by: jp bedard

Running over the steel bridge
And down to the lake
Shrieking raccoons, rats,
And skunks in my wake

Rounding the corner
Towards the sketchy part of the city
Soup kitchens, abandoned lots,
Bus shelters looking a little gritty

Out of an alcove
I see your shadow appear
You, a part of our city,
Hidden beneath a veneer

You look so skinny and cold
In your faux mink stole
Up and down the lonely street
Lethargically you trawl

What could you possibly carry
In that huge purse
A change of panties, mouthwash,
Or something much worse

The people who despise you,
In public on the street
Are the same people who pick you up
In a minivan, with a baby seat

To me you’re a friendly face
I see in the night
I wave hello, say be safe
You giggle with delight

Your sad brown eyes
Reflect a life you didn’t choose
A time before the needle ravaged,
All the unending abuse

I don’t pity you, for I too
Am broken in a place
Both seeking our way,
A path to God’s good grace

Just remember, even though at times
You may feel all alone,
Together through these dark,
Empty streets we both roam

There will be a day when together
We find that missing piece
And all that fear, shame,
And doubt, will suddenly cease

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