Author: Kristine Binder

Today is the beginning of my 48th trip around the sun. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I decided to go for a run. I have spent these cold winter days on the treadmill or on an indoor track but today I wanted to go outside. I wanted to feel the cold air fill my lung and feel alive. I wanted to take my pup for a run so I layered up and leashed up. I needed a little time to myself to recharge.
My miles today were not just for me but for another Mother Runner and her family. Meg Menzies was not someone I knew or ever even met, but I feel was a kindred spirit. She was a runner who last weekend went for a training run. It was on the fateful run that she was stuck and killed by a drunk driver.
Meg’s friends wanted to honor her and her story so they started a Facebook group. That group expended and turned into a group…no…a movement…in Meg’s honor. #megsmiles was born.
Today I ran 6.5 miles in the snow. It was not fast nor easy but each mile was for someone I love. I ran the first mile for my parents. Mile 2 was 25 year old for my step daughter (gosh I Loathe that term) who lost her mother a few years back. Mile 3 was for my 18 year old, mile 4 was for my 15 year old, mile 5 was for my 14 year old and mile 6 was for my baby, my 10 year old. The last .5 was for me. Each mile I ran, I thought of my own children and family but also of Meg’s family. Each mile I thought of all that running has given me. Each mile I thought of all my many blessings. What an awesome gift to myself…time to run.
Meg was training for Boston when she lost her life. She was looking of fulfill a dream. She was doing what all runners do…run. What she didn’t know or couldn’t know was that a driver was getting behind the wheel after having too much to drink.
Drivers are more distracted today than ever. Phones, texting, drinking all impair driving. I know. I was struck while out on a run by a driver who I saw looking at his phone but he didn’t see me. My dog saved my life that day. I was Lucky
We runners do what we do. We run. It is how we cope with life. It is how we relieve stress. It is how we come together. It is how we live. After Boston, runners ran. We all ran to honor all that could not run. I wrote about that  Here. Runners are a community.
Meg, I believe, knew that. She knew that running was different from every other sport. Running is more than sport. It is community. We runners celebrate the accomplishments of new runners as well as old. We celebrate every mile run. We celebrate each other. I believe Meg knew that.
Meg was like all Mother Runners. She kissed her kids and headed out the door for “just a run” “just a few miles” “I’ll be right back”. We runners run to recharge. We run to reclaim a little independence and sanity. We run to reboot that computer in our heads. We run to close the spouse/parent/friend/son/daughter/coach/worker tabs on that computer and get a fresh start. We need the fresh look at life that we get after a short run or a long run depending on the day. We need to reboot.
Meg was training for Boston. THE marathon. The ONE! She wanted to do more than just finish. She wanted to RUN Boston. Today the people who ran in her honor covered more miles than she would have training for multiple marathons. Today runners ran. Today people who had never put one foot in front of the other ran. They walked. They jogged. They moved to honor a woman they had never met but a woman who moved them. The impact of her life was felt in every footfall today…and tomorrow … And every day that these people move.
We can not change the past but we can learn from it. We runners need to do all that we can to learn and grow from this experience. We need to forgive. We need are not the ones that will live with the guilt and anguish that the driver faces in the future.
The impact of Meg’s life will go far beyond the movement that happened today. We runners now have a special angel on our shoulders keeping us company on those lonely miles. Meg will live on in the footfalls of every runner that continues to run today and every day. The fact that #megsmiles is also “meg smiles”is no coincidence. Forward is a pace.

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At the end of the week, I end another trip around the sun. To honor that, I would like to ask each of you to commit a random act of kindness this week. Just one nice thing for someone else …just because. Say a prayer for someone other than yourself, leave a kind note on a coworkers desk, pay a toll for the car behind you, buy a coffee for someone you don’t know, offer to drive carpool for an extra day…. You get the idea. Open your eyes to opportunities for kindness and take a chance. Forward is a pace.

January 1. I have 17 days left in my 47th year. I have thought  long and hard about my resolutions for this new year. Here they are…
1. Smile more. It makes people curious and takes difficult situations to a different place.
2. Spread Tutu spirit. I know I look ridiculous in my tutu but who cares? Not me! If I can garner a smile from a struggling runner in a race…job done.
3. Write more. I have realized that my writing helps others as much as it helps me.
4. Keep moving forward. FORWARD IS A PACE.

So here it is. January 1. A blank slate   A time to start anew. I always hated resolutions because they never stick. They are not supposed to last a month. They are not supposed to be forgotten or recycled. They are not supposed to be a lie you tell yourself and others year after year.
Resolutions are meant to stick. They are supposed to  change you. They are meant to make you better than you were last year. Better than you were yesterday.
We can’t pay lip service to Resolutions.  It takes work…hard work … To change. We can work hard to stay the same, to change for the worse or better. It is all up to us.
So this year, make a resolution. Just one. One you know you can keep. One you know will make your life better. It doesn’t have to be huge. Just one little change. Write it down and work on it each day, every day, 365 days of this new year and see what happens. Peace.

As the year comes to a close, I feel compelled to come back to my blog. I took a break to focus on other things. Don’t get me wrong, blog entries swim around in my head on a daily bias but the time it takes to sit down and write it all has been too much for me lately.
I have spent the last few days reflecting back on 2013. Many things come to mind but as I think long and hard, I keep coming back to the same thing.
I have never been the strongest or the fastest. I have never been the best at much of anything. I never had the drive or ambition. I was never a star. In high school I managed the tennis team. I longed to play the lead in Carousel or Brigadoon but settled for the supporting cast as I knew there were other better suited for the lead.
I chose a small all women’s Catholic college rather than a Big 10 school because I thought The big 10 was for others not me.
I have always taken my place on the sidelines. I have been the cheerleader. I have been the support staff.
What I realized this year is that is my best position. It is why I love being a teacher. It is why I love being a coach for Girls on the Run. It is why I love being a pace leader for new runners.  I love helping other to see the best in themselves. I love helping others to realize their potential. I love being a cheerleader, coach and teacher.
People sometimes laugh or roll their eyes at my motto, Forward is a Pace. To me is sums up all that I am and hope to teach others. If we are moving forward … No matter how fast or slow… We are still moving in the right direction. We must continue to move forward. We can’t look back. We can’t relive the past. We must move forward at whatever pace suits is at that moment. Sometimes we move at the speed of sound and sometimes we are lucky to shuffle a half step. But as long as we move forward….we are moving on the right direction. Let us all continue to support one another and move forward in the new year. Forward is a pace.