They say you should walk a mile in someone’s shoes before judging them but what if they have run over 1500 km in a pair alone in under a year? A mile walking almost seems disrespectful. When a hobby turns to therapy it’s self-growth. But when therapy turns into ambition its self-empowerment.

My love for this city spiced with my ambitious running made the Nike Women’s 15k the ideal course to conquer. I lost track of what’s rain, sweat, tears, and blood. I pushed my limits so far that they no longer could push back. It was an honor running along side 10,000 strong and beautiful women from 24 different countries for an incredible 15k.

Though it continuously rained throughout the run and my foot started bleeding and my knee popped, I finished it. It’s a bittersweet moment to depart with my mint Adidas this day. I ran all around Markham, High Park for Run for Palestine, the RAC track, a farm in Honduras, and now the Toronto Islands and the Billy Bishop Airport in these very same shoes – all under a year.

While waiting for the run to begin, I met a woman from DC who came to Toronto solely to participate in this event. She told me she aimed to at least do one run outside her city/country every year. I did not catch her name, but I definitely caught her ambitions. I’m adopting this policy for my future running goals. Next stop: A morning 10km on a beach in Rio.

There are some people I, however, do want to thank to have led me to this Nike Women’s 15k Run: Ms. Silgiman, my high school gym teacher, and my ultimate inspiration, Sidrah, for being my first gym buddy in university, Mark, for giving me the confidence to weight train with men around, and lastly, Kapela, to push me each and every leg day. S/O to Jessica for telling me about this awesome run 3 months ago.