If you are not running on the edge...

I haven’t blogged or written my column Run&Bee for Hindustan Times since 15th March 2020. This too is a piece that had come out as a column in HT but I had not blogged about earlier. I wrote this piece a year before I would truly know the meaning of what I had written. (Drawing by Mark Chilcott)

Run&Bee #27: If you are not running on the edge, you are wasting way too much space. (1st December 2018)

We all are a sum total of all our experiences and interactions with all the people that we ever meet throughout our lives. They come into our lives to make us what we become.

We almost always assume that the most cherished relationships will last forever, when as a matter of fact, the sweetest of them end up lasting the shortest, almost as if it were diabetes.

We simply are in denial of the most basic principle of life, i.e. nothing is permanent in life, including life itself. Once that realization sets in, we are one step closer to Nirvana, whatever that be.

Peter helping Wynberg-Allen School win gold in 4x100m relay beating Woodstock School at Inter-School Athletics (Mussoorie) in 1987. Earlier in the day, he was disqualified for false-start in 100m, his favourite event.

Come to think of it, life is a lot like a relay. Once the baton is handed over to you, you need to get hold of it and get on with it. And in a bit, pass it on to the next runner. That exchange of baton, in the bigger scheme of things, is only a fraction of a second, even if that. We need to celebrate that moment spent together rather than being stuck there forever. Of course, easier said than done. 

Some would argue that why should we so desire for that highest high when we are certain that it’ll be followed by the lowest low! Guess we need to remind ourselves that everything in this life is a bonus.

Peter is extreme left (standing) with the legendary Mr. Champa Dhakpa, who has been instrumental in getting 40+ years of students from Wynberg-Allen School to pick up running.

The same applies to long-distance runners. We meet the most amazing people during training runs and races. Some could have been mentors and others could be mentored by us. Over the years, the running buddies keep changing, teaching us about life more than running alone. Most of the time, nothing is spoken and yet you understand each other when it comes to what pace to be running or living at. At times you follow other runners on social media without ever having met, yet your wave-length totally matches. All this time making you an evolved version of yourself, for better or for worse.

Too many of us are stuck in some period of our lives and it’s difficult to move on. For that reason, we should lead a life at our terms that we are not answerable to anyone, but when we are done and dusted with life, we should be proud of what we did. We could have touched lives and changed them for good without even realizing it. 

Peter (in blazer) is 3rd from right.

It was more than 30 years ago when my class seventh dorm monitor at my boarding school in Mussoorie was a gentleman called Peter Brian Carlyle. He was the sports captain at Wynberg-Allen School and Prefect too, but extremely grounded. I used to look up to him because of his calm demeanour and his work ethics on the running track. He didn’t make too much fuss about how good he was in his running but let his legs do the talking. He was exceptionally good at 100 metres sprint, 80 metres hurdles and relay. Till date, he holds the Wynberg-Allen School Inter-House 100 metres record (11.46 seconds).

He impacted my running and me without ever having said much. A few years back, out of the blue, he got in touch with me and thanked me for the work I was doing in running and fitness space. It doesn’t get better than your childhood role model appreciating you for the track they got you on. He told me to notify him of any activities I would do in the future on social media or otherwise. 

Peter is right up front, extreme right, leading the Wynberg-Allen School athletics team contingent (1987) at Inter-School Athletics Meet.

Peter and I planned multiple times to meet. Just a couple of days back (Nov 2018) I got to know that he had passed away. I felt a vacuum in my life when I heard of his demise even though I didn’t know him well enough but we had mutual respect for each other. As much as I or anyone else would think that we have worked around death and wouldn’t let it impact us much, it always manages to.

Peter in first place in blue. I totally loved his attitude towards his friends whether they beat him or were beaten by him.

Peter, with his all-out running effort, without ever having said a word to me, taught me way back then on the Allen flats that if you are not running on the edge, you are wasting way too much space. He didn’t win every race but he didn’t leave even a percent of effort in the tank when he was done. He gave it all he had. 

Peter is on the podium in blue. Deepak Sharma is in yellow t-shirt in first place in High Jump.

He did the same with his fight with cancer. He told me when he was diagnosed that he didn’t want people to know as they would feel sorry for him and he didn’t need any of that. He took the fight to cancer itself. 

Life is like running. More like ultra running. No one has any clue how long. Peter made it count. He ran. He lived. He didn’t merely exist. A lesson for us all.

Peter almost being apologetic for having beaten Deepak Sharma in Long Jump.

Earlier this year (2018), he messaged me as soon as he got done with surgery that the cancer was addressed and he was going to get back to his exercises and he’ll get back to life.

He gave it his best. With no regrets. Totally living on the edge. At his terms. Not occupying any space or time more than need be, similar to his old self, a sprinter to whom every millisecond counted.

Thanks a million miles Peter!