Run lola run
Posted: July 30, 2012 | Author: grantgrant | Filed under: Opinions | Tags: lands end, presidio, run lola run, running, san francisco | Leave a comment »Run lola run is a 1998 German Movie dramatically depicting three hypothetical scenarios when a young woman has to literally run from one place to another to save her boyfriend.
I actually never watched this movie, but thought about it after a whole day of running from lands end to presidio.
Why do people run? Clearing head? Attempting to lose fat? Competing?
I started running regularly after college, when suddenly my sprinting talent was discovered. For years after that, I was simply running aimlessly, not particularly happy to run, nor motivated to compete. I ran because I thought I was able to and didn’t have much else to do.
It’s all changed now.
A few weeks ago, I rediscovered the massive presidio and rich history of it. I have definitely fallen in love with the meandering trails, the ever flowing fog, the forts, wildlife. Time simply stops here. From lands end’s sutro height area where sutro bath was the biggest public spa at the time from 1860 onward till its demise in 1966, to lover’s lane where young men and women in the military found each other, this is a place that used to be urban, busy, and happening all the time. Today, it’s all replaced with nature and its sound, as it should always be. But stories are kept. While I was running on Sutro bath’s ruins today, I was thinking to myself: are there anyone alive who actually used this spa back in the days?
And I kept on running, from Land’s end, to China beach, to baker beach, to fort winfield scott, to the main post. I found myself genuinely happy, it never happened before. I was genuinely feeling “busy” and “occupied” with running, not because I didn’t have much to do, but because this IS what I do.
And I ran into Judy, a beautiful volunteer lady at main post’s museum, I could not have guessed that she is 73. She would take me on a virtual tour of the history of presidio and San Francisco bay. Amazingly, she told me she used to take bath at Sutro bath in the 40s when she was just a little girl. She told me there were hot tubs where only old people would go, unlike today.
I could not believe what I heard. I ran 5 miles, randomly took a break at the small museum at main post, out of nowhere comes this lady who was born and raised in San francisco, and went to Sutro. What are the odds? I was just wondering!
When lola determined to run for her boyfriend, story unfolded, life happened.
When I kept on running, eventually I discovered the true beauty of presideo and San Francisco, in turn, it gave me the joy in running that I searched for so long.
It only gets better.
Run, Lola run!
