Sākums | The Beginning.

Earthing and re-grounding after a run.

Sākums or the beginning of this story depends on where I want to go with it. There have been many seeds that eventually grew into the Run to Plant Trees initiative. I have always enjoyed running, even when I was in school and we had to do laps to warm up before a PE class. And I have always been curious about nature and its wonders. My family grew their own fruits and vegetables (and still do!), while my grandparents reared their own animals for eggs, milk and meat. My childhood autumnal days were filled with the joys of preserving food for winter months - pickles, jams, and ferments. I was 23 when I bought a bag of potatoes for the first time in the shop, that was during my Erasmus studies in Sweden. My connection and appreciation for land was instilled in me very early on.

After graduating with BSc and MA, I moved to Cardiff, UK. And I found myself exploring the idea of running again in order to connect with the landscape around me, and reconnect with my body. One year later in Spring, 2015, I bought a pair of running shoes and a day later I ran my first 5 km. Fast forward to October of the same year, after a move to Galway, Ireland, I took part in my first ever running race - Jigsaw Galway 8 km at NUI, Galway. I am happy to say, that it was the first and also the only race that I have ever felt sick after and close to throwing up.

2016 and 2017 were quiet due to a longstanding injury that really made me change the way I look at movement and body, due in part to the fact that I became a certified yoga and meditation teacher. This newfound knowledge of the idea of linking breath with each and every movement, as well as a consistent work with an osteopath and physiotherapist, allowed me to dive deep and rediscover my body and mind; relating to them as one and not two separate entities. This became one of my biggest stepping stones in the way that I approached everything in my life, including running.

And then in 2018 I ran my first half marathon, which left me in complete awe. I was thrilled to be running my first half marathon at home, in Latvia. It was a year that celebrated Latvia’s 100th birthday so they really went all out for the race, choirs on the streets, streams of supporters lining streets and bridges, dancers dressed in traditional dress high-fiving you and offering water, live band playing at the finish line, marvelous sunshine, it all felt surreal, all this energy packed around running. And runners! I was hooked! The support, short conversations and words of encouragement, this was the world for me.

And even though the next day after the half marathon stairs were a huge and nearly impossible challenge, I wanted more.

I decided that I will run my first marathon that same year. I knew I still needed a few months of training, and most importantly, I wanted my first marathon to be special. Shortly after, I discovered that the Athens Authentic Marathon was taking place on November 11, which coincided with Bear-slayer Day (a memorial day in Latvian history). So the Athens Authentic Marathon not only became the first marathon for the history books, thank you Pheidippides, but also for me.

And in short, it was EPIC.

You have to experience it to really grasp it - sensations, feelings, exhaustion, exhilaration and pure joy. And human connection. Since, I have never experienced anything like it on such a grand scale.

This was the beginning of it all.