If I counted up all the miles I have run in the last 10 years, I would say there have been a fair few. Since moving to the United Kingdom in 2011, I have started running routinely, as well as travelling more. By combining the two, I refer to it as active travel (not to be confused with running or cycling to work). Believe it or not, Europe is so much more accessible from London rather than Michigan. My passion for running started as a way to fundraise for an American charity close to my heart. The more I ran, the farther distances I had to go to encourage more donations. My first international race was in Paris for a half marathon in 2013. I traveled alone from London and stayed with a friend’s sister (who not only I had never met, but also wasn’t there, so I actually stayed with my friend’s brother-in-law). The only other time I had been in Paris was in 2005, so it was amazing to explore the city with fresh eyes while on foot. Road races tend to take you through neighborhoods you might not otherwise see. Moving at a relatively slow pace (compared to a car) and above ground (as opposed to a subway), you see things from a different point of view. An added bonus is runners love talking about all things running which means even if you head to the start pen on your own, you will make friends shortly after arrival. This trip to Paris was a long weekend and as it was my first ‘big’ race, I was cautious drinking too much wine or eating too much cheese until after I had crossed the finish line. Now, I am quite not as cautious if the race is only a 5 or 10K.
Since 2013, I have run in 12 countries and ten states as part of my goal to run in every country and state that I visit. While I have memories from each, I have been looking for a way to commemorate these trips. Luckily, I have discovered El Camino Bracelets.* With each race, I have specific memories of the time and place, and now I also have a physical representation i can wear on my wrist. The half marathon I did in Auckland, New Zealand was seven loops in a local park with a hill, which my husband reminded me each time I passed him that I was slowing down. My first marathon was in Prague and I had a few days to wander the city on my own beforehand. As a souvenir, I bought a small red garnet (the national gem) to wear on a necklace that said ‘26.2’ (the number of miles in a marathon). The first time I went to Disney World was at the age of 36 for a half marathon with a charity entry. Charity entries start in the back due to lack of estimated finishing time and everyone ahead of me was walking due to the Dopey Challenge (four day event which starts with a 5K and ends with a marathon). It took me six miles to move ahead of the walkers and find a steady pace. I slept under the stars in the Jordanian desert while completing a 5 day ultra marathon in 2018. During the Rock-N-Roll half marathon in Dublin (which was hillier than I thought it would be), the deer in Phoenix Park ran across the course as we neared the finish line. I was too slow to get my phone out for a photo.
Hanging my race medals in the spare bedroom isn’t too inspiring when I am training or conversational when visiting friends and family. Those of you who know runners know we love to talk about running! When I learned about El Camino Bracelets*, I saw this travel-inspired accessory to be the best way of reminding myself of what I have achieved and therefore what I still am capable of. With a ‘Step’ from each country I tick off, along with the colorful Steps to categorize my race distances for ‘5k’ to ‘marathon’ to ‘250km ultra’, I can wear this bracelet day in and day out, including when I am training, as a reminder of how many memories I have made by simply running. El Camino Bracelets are made in the UK and meant to be worn while exploring. The hand polished surgical grade stainless steel holds up against salt water, sweat, and a range of temperatures. The spacers are all made from sustainably sourced woods and coconut. Typically, I don’t wear jewelry because it is too inconvenient to take it on and off daily for exercise, dishes, my ‘real job’, showering, etc. The big appeal to me was I can leave this bracelet on and only take it off after I have run somewhere new.
Even though El Camino has created categories for their Steps (animals, regions, continents, sea, oceans, etc), you can create your own code to make the jewelry meaningful to you. I wanted to use traffic lights as inspiration for my distances. You can use your creativity to find a custom Step designs too, to capture weddings, birthdays, travel with your besties, adoptaversaries of your pets, etc. You are only limited by the 29-32 character space. Adventure Steps illustrate your jewelry with small symbols. I chose the airplane and arrow adventure Steps (not the footprint because I don’t like feet), then added on the following the countries and colorful Steps: 5K (green/South America): USA; 10K (orange/Tiger step): South Africa, Portugal; half marathon (blue /Australia region): Scotland, New Zealand; marathon (red/ North American region): Czech Republic; other (purple/Baltic Sea): Jordan. I love this bracelet so much, it is listed in my 2023 gift guide and I have asked for the rest of the countries I have run in (see map above) for Christmas. Fingers crossed that Santa got my letter.
These last 10 years have had ups and down both physically and mentally. Running has played a huge part in helping me get through it all (even though it is sometimes a love-hate relationship, I always feel better after a run). My next marathon is in Tokyo in March 2024. This trip has been booked since 2020 and rescheduled twice. The last time I ran a marathon was in 2021 as a virtual race (it may be the only way I ever get a Boston Marathon medal). I am anxiously looking forward to finally running this race after several start-stops over the years. As I enter my second month of training, I am starting to recall all the tips and tricks that have worked well for me in the past (daily protein shakes, weekly osteopath appointments, early morning runs in the dark, long runs with friends). It will be my 5th World Marathon Major which leaves me with Boston, the hardest one to gain entry to. The reason I chose a double El Camino bracelet was so that one string can be for the World Marathon Majors (London, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, and Boston) as custom Steps with the years I ran them. What a tremendous day that will be when I get that Boston small Step on my El Camino bracelet (and then never have to run a marathon ever again!).
What will be next 10 years of active travel bring? I have already set my sights on a European road trip for August 2024. If I plan it correctly, I should be able add the following steps to my bracelet: Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and/or Luxembourg. There are over 190 countries which means I have a long way to go. And probably a few bracelets (or necklaces) to fill. One thing I am thinking about is signing up for a polar race, even though I ran a 5k in Colorado on New Years Day in 2022 (in a few inches of snow!). And I want to SUP around the island of Jersey. My plan is to keep putting one foot in front of the other while spending as much time outside and exploring. While I am back home training, I will have a constant reminder of just how far I have come.
How do you keep memories from your travels? Do you print a photo book? Keep your airplane tickets? Buy a magnet? Get a tattoo? Let me know in the comments below.
*El Camino bracelets gifted me this bracelet and steps. All opinions are honest and my own.
Recent Comments