This Sunday, I woke up very early, a rare thing I do on weekends. One and a half hours later, my mom and I were standing shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of runners, tightening shoelaces and feeling our hearts beating faster seconds before a signal to run. It was my first time joining the Juregimnin Jenimpazy running event, a name that translates as “Winner of My Heart,” a race held annually in Astana in support of patients awaiting organ transplants.
My colleague Aibarshyn (L) and I after finishing the race on Aug. 10. Photo credit: personal archive
The race exists because the need is real. More than 4,000 people are on the waiting list, including 128 children. The running event is organized by the Heart Center Foundation of the UMC Heart Center, the same center that saved my mom’s heart six years ago. Six years ago, my mother was on an operating table, her chest open in a life-saving surgery. Now, she was by my side, ready to run three kilometers.
For me, three kilometers was a personal challenge, and not only because I sacrificed my sweet weekend sleep. Regular exercise is a part of my lifestyle, but running is different. Sometimes, I thought to myself, perhaps I am exaggerating the effort, as if I were planning to run a 41-kilometer marathon. No, I was not. This was a personal summit I overcame.
I trusted my heart and it didn’t let me down. I finished the three-kilometer distance in 30 minutes, with my mom finishing eight minutes later. The cool Astana air could not hide the heat running to my cheeks. This was a warm rush, a feeling of pride, and a boost of endorphins coming along the way.
But, honestly, running and I have always been on different sides of the track. This is why when my colleagues decided to sign up one afternoon in the newsroom, I didn’t give much thought to that and said, “Why not?” My colleague, Aibarshyn Akhmetkali, and I even had after-work practices twice in a week before the race, laughing at how fit we thought we were and how long and difficult it felt on the track.
As a journalist, I have covered many events where sports and good social causes are combined, but being in the middle of one changes your view. The Astana Times also partnered with the organizers this year, and my colleague took on the 10-kilometer race.
Seeing people coming to the starting point early in the morning makes you feel a part of something bigger. Experienced runners, families with strollers, volunteers, people in wheelchairs, first timers like my mom, Aibarshyn, and I – all came there with their purposes, and this race was not about medals or who is faster, but about showing up because we care.
