Bigger Than Me
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Sunday morning. City to Bay 2026, the 6km field starting from Kurralta Park shopping centre, staggered behind the 12km runners already on the road from the City.
Solo start, but never really alone. Thousands of people moving through Adelaide at the same time.
Before we started, the 12km field came past on the other side of the road, deep into their own run. Watching that stream of people, I noticed how differently everyone was carrying their reason for being out there. Some wore it. Names on singlets, causes across a t-shirt, the story printed right there on their chest. Others carried it privately, nothing visible, just legs turning over the same as mine.
Not braver to show it. Not smaller to keep it private. Just different.
Running is hard enough on a good day. It gets harder when the only reason you're doing it is you.
Watching that crowd pass, worn reasons and private reasons side by side, I realised the size of the reason matters more than whether anyone else can see it. A reason bigger than yourself doesn't make the kilometres shorter. It makes them easier to carry.
That might be the real value of something like City to Bay. Not that everyone's reason is the same. It's that thousands of different reasons end up moving in the same direction, and somehow that makes each one lighter.
What's the reason you're carrying that would feel lighter if you let it be bigger than you?
P.S. Running for something bigger than yourself is close to the heart of the Community chapter in Habits for a 1% Better Life.
Each week I donate a hard copy to a local street library, because a good book should keep moving. This week's run puts another one out into the world.
