One Loop At a Time. My journey to 100 Miles

Me back in 2015.
-Me: Run 300 meters? Can I?
-My mind: Yes, you can.
-My body: Oh, no. I can’t do it. I don’t want to do it. It’s impossible for me to run.

Fast-forward me 10 years.
-Me: Backyard, 100 miler? Can I do it?
-My mind: Yes, you can.
-My body: Oh yeah, let’s get rolling.

Between these two dates, a span of 10 years of battle of the two minds: one the says “let’s take a break and relax”, the other “#NoExcuse, not today”, sweat, dedication, perseverance, commitment, focus, chosen suffering, finding a joy in these sufferings. Period with full of ups and downs, both emotionally and physically. If you asked me 10 years ago, if I would ever run a 100 miler, I would say: “Are you out of your mind!”

Before getting into actual 100 miler, let me give you some background stories how it all started. April 5, 2023, I encounter a post in Instagram about a race called “Backyard Ultra” and it catched my attention. Because for me anything with word “ultra” has some emotional rollercoaster to it😂. Why would anyone choose to run more than a sweet 5K, let alone distance more than a marathon (42.2 km)? For what? For fun🥳? You are crazy! That’s a compliment, by the way.

As I started to read more about the format of the race, I was more and more intrigued to organize one here in Tajikistan. One person that came to my mind that might have participated in such kind of races was our fellow runner from DAV.TJ - Sergey. So, I asked him in our chat group if he ever ran it? Because I was interested in organizing one myself in the October of that year. He replied saying he never participated but running 10-15 loops for run would be great. That means running for 10-15 hours!

Yeah, you have got to love that kind of craziness from your fellow runners where you throw some random crazy idea and they take it and make it even more crazier and through it back at you😅.

So, with that level of joy and interest I started to contact the founder of the Backyard - also known as “Lazarus Lake”, his real name is Gary Cantrell. From Wikipedia:

With all back and forth communication, I wasn’t able to organize that October because I was focusing on going to 🇨🇳China and I had other life priorities.

But the idea of organizing this race never left me. Even when I was studying in China, I was making time to think through the race organizational details. Eventually, we were able to organize it in the middle of the hot summer, on July 13, 2024.

The first Backyard Ultra in Tajikistan - such a great achievement for our 🇹🇯country to be on the list of this international race format. The first edition of Backyard Ultra Tajikistan - I ran 16 loops. That amounted to 107km which was right in par with what I ran in Tengri Ultra. I learned some of the lessons that I will share below but some I still somehow managed to repeat 🤦🏻‍♂️

The first Backyard Ultra was conducted really good and the reason I know that was because of the feedback we received from the participants after the race through Google Forms.

It gave us some room for improvement which we focused the next year. All that was really good experience but my desire to know how far I can go remained with me. In my mind there was always a ladder of running experience where you take one small step at a time to reach your bigger goal 🎯. It wasn’t like you go out straight to marathon, get the badge of marathon runner and be done. It’s about taking time, being patient, learning from mistakes, consistently regardless of slow you are moving or plateaued, to keep believing in yourself that the day comes and you will be there. It was like this:

✅5K - 18:09 (Strava)
✅10K - 36:28 (Strava)
✅Half marathon - 1:24:21 (Strava)
✅Marathon - 2:58:19 (Strava)
✅Ultramarathon (50K - 3:52:36 Strava)
✅100K - 8:33:28 (Strava)
✅100K (actual 107 km) Tengri Ultra trail - 12:31:04 (Strava)
✅107K Backyard Ultra Tajikistan 2024 - 16 loops (Strava)
☑️100 miler

That 100 miler had to be ticked off sooner than later 😅 I had several failed attempts and I think those helped me learn more about myself: my flaws, my weaknesses, my impatience, my ego. With all long distance running, you learn how to live with yourself, be with yourself.

When my form was great, air quality wasn’t great. When air quality was great, I lacked mental or physical toughness. People think that I ran every day and it must be easy for me. 😅 Actually, not. I struggle just like all other people. I get injured 🤕, I get emotionally down 😣, I get sick 🤧, I get angry 😠 and frustrated that my progress plateaued, I doubt myself, I underestimate myself, I suffer - but what sets us apart is one keeps believing and showing up for why they do what they do, while others abandon their why. Your “why” has to be stronger than any odds that life throws at you.

It’s November 2024 and I am thinking through where we need to organize the next Backyard Ultra Tajikistan in Dushanbe. Akai Yuldosh, who is also ultramarathoner and prominent runner of our running community suggested we do it in Khujand. Without his continues attempts to convince me that organizing in Khujand is far more important and beneficial than in Dushanbe, I wouldn’t recognize it as such opportunity. All of the races, be they DAV.TJ organized campaigns or Dushanbe International Half Marathon or OneRun or BoxZabeg - all of these are always conducted in the capital and Khujand is left without an opportunity. I am greatly thankful for akai Yuldosh for his strive to make running popular in Khujand and bring running races and events in Khujand.

As time passes and I start working on the design of the medals, I think of what elements to include so it looks very national to represent something from the heart of Tajikistan. First, I thought about “toqi” which is a national hat, mostly worn in the north part of Tajikistan. So, I played with artificial intelligence by feeding my thoughts and images like this:

Various ideas ranged:

Initially, I wanted something triangular with the Toqi design but couldn’t get what I wanted from AI. Then I added handicraft elements to it.

Most of the medals are circular, I thought. Why not make it rectangular shape. As a runner, I wanted to make a medal that would stand out and feel like real medal. So, iteration after many interactions, AI came up with something I was looking for.

Around beginning of March, 2025, I shared the design with akai Yuldosh as he is a great CorelDraw designer, asking him if he could make mockup based on this. He quickly sent the design file and we started to discuss other “touches” to the medal to make it unique. We compared to all our other medals: dimensions, shape, weight, lanyard, material and etc.

And we finally set on the design and I contacted manufacturers in China to get MOQ and quote. Though, medals were expensive by the MOQ standards of manufacturers in China because their usual races hold more than thousands of people. We are slowing growing our participants numbers as well but it was still small number for the manufacturers. Our first Backyard Ultra Tajikistan had 50 participants. I thought if 100 people signed up for our race that would be already a success. That meant ordering 100 medals. Because we were doing it in Khujand, we knew there would be potentially many interested runners from Uzbekisan. They are runners just like us and why not bump up the order to 150, I thought.

Then the issue of determining the price came out. How much does the race should cost? I always wanted to make the running events accessible to people but at the same time not sacrifice quality. That’s why over 7 years now that I organize weekly group runs that are free for anyone. We try to serve water and refreshments for people so they can enjoy their running experience even more after a good run. Initially, I did it all from my pocket bearing cost personally and eventually with the contribution of the community we started to collect donations so we can use those funds to create awesome running “experiences”. Now this works like system and doesn’t rely on one person. In our community there is always someone who can take a lead and make it work.

Along with other admins of our community, we started discussing what we could include in the race kit besides medal and race T-shirt to make it like any other race organized by a “normal” company/organization. There were many suggestions: bags, energy drinks, gels, running related items and more. For me all those ideas meant more cost and potentially higher price for the runner. Besides making those ideas turn into reality by creating designs, preparing mockups, communicating with all the manufacturers which all take time and back and forth communication, I had to keep thinking of ways to make the race accessible.

Eventually, we stopped at race kit bag, medal, some giveaways and discount coupon from various sponsors and energy bars. Farhod Khamidov, fellow runner and a close friend of mine, in parallel was working on getting online timing system for our race. It was the first time we had bib with chips embedded in it so we can track in real time. Because it was our first time, we had some issues in the beginning of the race. We learned a lot from our failures.

As time was approaching, we still didn’t have permission from the authorities. Back in March before Nowruz, akai Yuldosh and I drafted the letter asking authorities to give us a green go for our race, so we don’t have instances where someone from government authorities will come and cancel the event in the middle of it. Nonetheless, we were having quite a few runners from Uzbekistan, almost 30 runners (wooohooo 🥳) and having potential big crowd would mean we must have authorities on our side.

Days passed, no news. I tried to involve as many runners as possible to see if someone had contacts or friends in the local Sughd government. Our letter was sitting somewhere nobody in the government cared to take it to the mayor of Khujand to inform him and get his permission. Shodmon, fellow runner from our community, gave couple of his contacts as he used to work in the youth committee of the government and tried facilitating the issue. He had helped a lot but I was realizing without me actually going in Khujand and meeting people in person, we wouldn’t have permission on time. Akai Yuldosh tried to reach people inside the government to no vail. So, I took a taxi and went to Khujand.

Couple days before that, Firuz and I met with Bakhtiyor and his deputy Dilshod - both of whom work in the Youth Committee and came for a work related trip to Bokhtar and they were on their way back to Khujand. We met them and I explained the race and importance of their support as it will show our country in the eyes of guests from other countries. Besides that so many people are coming and that’s a lot of investment in the local economy. Just when we go to other countries for a race, we, runners bear a lot of costs. It’s not just the race participation fee, it’s transportation, it’s accommodation, food, sight-seeings and many more expenses that go to support local economy. Bakhtiyor seemed to grasp the importance of it and appointed Dilshod to prepare all the necessary documents. I told them, I have everything and if they give me their template, I can quickly prepare the document for signature. I was realizing that if I let them do on their own, it would have taken much more time. Time was working against us. Each day, we were having more and more people signing for the race. I set up a Telegram bot where if there was a new registration, it would sent notification in the group. The more transparency we have, the more people are willing to sign up because they see it’s not a small race.

Once I got to Khujand to resolve the permission issues, akai Yuldosh came to pick me up for lunch. All our discussions were around Backyard and what tasks have left to be done so we can make it the event to remember forever. We contacted Dilshod and agreed to meet with him after lunch. In the government structure what’s funny is an assistant can have assistant under them and that assistant in turn can have more assistants😅 that’s how it was going but with the help of Ravshan, Firuz’s friend who worked as an IT guy in the government, we quickly identified which assistant actually did the work. Hasan, turned out to be the guy, that did all the work. So, met with him and I asked him if I can help him with the document preparation, literally, doing his work copy and pasting information from our website to their local document. In our website we had all the information and regulation documents from previous year I have published. It was just the matter of formatting and copy pasting. Luckily, he didn’t mind and we quickly finished the document. Printed, took it to the Head of the Committee also known as “Rais” and got his signature and stamp. I thought we are good to go only to find out that it was part of it. Now, Bakhtiyor, head of the committee, called Vosid another guy in the mayor’s office and informed him I was coming. Went there thinking I will just hand out the signed paper, that he started to talk about all the other tasks he has and that he needed time to prepare another document for the mayor to sign. Without loosing a second, I offered him if I can do it. If he explained me what he wanted, I could make it within an hour because I was the race organizer and participant and I knew all the ins and outs of the thing. He asked to prepare detailed Agenda document in which everything was written in details like where what time and date the event will start down to seconds and where the podium will be located; who will be there, where the banners will be and you had to describe in written form all of those details so mayor can read and understand the event before he approves. This wasn’t the first time I was doing these kinds of things back in 2011-2018, when I used to work in Tcell, telecom operator, I would draft such documents for the management. I asked Vosid given if I prepare the document that night, will he be able to get permission from mayor the next day? He said he will try.

Long night and I was writing an extensive document for the mayor. It was in Tajik and in Tajik I can write with all the nitty gritty details so anyone reading can immerse themselves in the event. The only thing, I don’t know if anyone would read it. So, it’s next day, Saturday, 3 AM and I finished the document and sent to Vosid’s Telegram. Because it’s Saturday, that meant we had a group run and I planned to join. Hit the sack and slept couple hours. After weekly group run, tried to reach Vosid to no vail, and I thought should I return back to Dushanbe because he had all the documents he needed or should I wait for mayor’s approval and then return. Fellow runners from Khujand suggested we gather for plov and I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to distribute some of the tasks among Khujand runners and help me and akai Yuldosh to focus on other things. Khujand runners are very responsible and helpful. Over the dinner we talked about many topics including how many loops each planned to run, running strategy and preperation.

Karomatullo, fellow runner from community, helped with finding the referee because the previous year, Wayne was the referee and this year he signed up as participant. We tried to get someone from Prozhenko’s family, a family of athletes from Khujand, but they had their own regional tournament and couldn’t help. Doniyor, fellow runner, helped with media - finding photographers and coordinating with videographers.

Mirzodaler, Doniyor, Zohid, Bakhtiyor, Azalkhon, Abduahad, Behzod, Muhammadkhon, akai Sultonjon, Ahrary, Sobirjon - without all these people, the organization of the Backyard in Khujand wouldn’t be possible. It takes a team of very dedicated, passionate people to do great things. Those who sacrifice their time and energy to contribute to something bigger and they want to share piece of that bigger beautiful thing - be it a race, be it a joint run, with others.

I returned without having written permission from mayor but Vosid ensured me with a green light that I can continue with other aspects and don’t worry about the letter. My mind was constantly thinking of small but important details of the race: “did I think about where the toilet will be?”, “is it close to the start?”, “are there enough signs along the road so people don’t get lost?”, “have I included this and that in my briefing notes and are we doing enough communication with racers, so they don’t have surprises or have negative experience because they didn’t know or hear about”. All these questions were constantly processed in my head and I felt super tired. Good thing I go out running to help me clear my mind and at times come with answers to my questions.

Race kit distribution in Dushanbe happened couple days before Khujand with the intention to do it more efficiently. Thanks to Isfandiyor, Saodat, Farrukh, Zarina, Bahodur and Firuz for helping prepare glue the chips in the bibs, put each item inside runners’ bag.

Couple days before the race, I drive with my son Neki to Khujand with my car to take care of remaining things. Some of the equipment I loaded to Isfandiyor and Olim’s car to help deliver. People start coming to pick up their race kits. That evening we had briefing planned for runners. It was important for us to communicate all the details of the race, rules and road conditions so people don’t get surprise. Because nobody knew how many hours the race will continue, it was impossible to close the roads and we asked everyone to understand us because while we wanted to give runners great city view, we weren’t in position to close roads for unknown period of time and cause inconvenience for locals.

Once we were done with briefing, we still had to take care of signs along the route to be installed. Imagine, next day having a big race and aiming to push your limits and you along with other runners need to take care of organizational moments. One thing I learned is I decided I will never be an organizer and participant at the same time. It just drains you so much and you have to constantly focus on ongoing tasks that as a runner you can’t quite push your running limits. You definitely push all your limits when you are both organizer and participant 😅

We finished all the signage installation around 11 PM and by the time we got home it was midnight. The last two days I was on my feet all day long and I felt like steam coming up from both of my feet. One word could explain it: “exhausted”. Thank goodness, I finished my daily run in the morning of that day, otherwise, had to squeeze in my run before the next day. We came to Firuz’s house, took a shower and hit the bed. We had 5 hours to sleep and get up at 5 AM because race was planned to start at 7 AM and we had to make sure we have everything ready up and running.

Initially, I didn’t sign up Neki for the Backyard thinking if I did I would have to run the first loop with him and if he didn’t make it on time, that would mean I will be out. I thought I will give him my bib so he can feel he is participating but he quickly realized it and nagged me to sign him up for the race. I asked him if he can promise me to run within 50 minutes to guarantee that I can have time to be ready for the second loop. He thought for a bit and agreed because he knew he would have to run a little faster than his usual mix of running and walking. I signed him up. He was happy. I was stressed. I didn’t want to push him too much while understanding he was the youngest participant in the race and he needs time and care.

On the morning of the race, we got up at 5 AM and I had my usual coffee, Firuz ate something and fruits. On our way to the starting line, Firuz asked to buy something from Amid store and I was little bit nervous because time was ticking and anything that is out of my plan, it usually stresses me out. I can’t adjust on the go and maybe it’s one of my weaknesses and I should take it easy.

When we reached Park Kamoli Khujandi, where our Start/Finish there were already some participants. Olim who had part of the equipment like Start/Finish arch got stuck the day before the race on the way to Khujand because there were mud-flooding mid road in Ayni region. Tent for change room and other small organizational moments were stressing me out. I really like to think ahead and don’t like to put things in the last moment and here I am trying to scramble a plan. Thankfully, our runners do always proactively offer help, though it’s not their job to do. I think as a race organizer it is lack of organizational skills. Anything can be thought out and done without a stress if organizer has strong skills and adaptable. That second part “adaptability” is something I need to work on.

It’s almost around 6:30 AM, music was playing behind the scenes. Everyone was taking photos and enjoying their time. We go for a group photo. Various news outlets approach me asking who can give interviews. I point to our runners from other countries - Wayne, Kathryn, Nangar, Sergey and our guests runners from Uzbekistan.

Almost all runners are at the starting line. Everyone is energized and geared up for their next record.

As I announce the start, I see Neki in the front line, pumped up. He loves to brag.

Loop 1 - all my thoughts are with Neki, can he make it under 50 minutes. He rushed all the way ahead of the pack and I am all the way behind before Park exit looking if anyone was left behind.

A lot of thought and discussion went to which route we choose for the Backyard; where to put turn signs and motivational signs, safety, accessibility, city sightseeings and many more. Great We even had to have Plan B in case government didn’t approve our race. We eventually stopped at this one:

I saw Neki somewhere around 2nd kilometer and he was walking. He seemed to be out of energy but cheering him up always gives him undiscovered energy. As runners passed and time was ticking, I reminded Neki about his promise and if he didn’t finish within 1 hour, he won’t receive a medal. Receiving a medal/certificate was important for him. As most product shipments between China and Tajikistan take place by truck, our medals are stuck on the road due to an avalanche, though we placed the order over a month ago. It was unfortunate that we didn’t have medals the day of the race. We received them the next week.

Neki made it on time, somewhere around 48 minutes. It took some pressure off me.

Now, I could focus on my run. From previous Backyard, I knew the strategy I pursued last time would perfectly work. It was simple, to spend as little energy as possible in each loop:

The weather was slightly windy that day and I tried to feel from which direction it was blowing so to conserve as much energy as possible. It was blowing primarily from east to west and from 1st to 3rd kilometer I would just fast walk. I think having a good strategy in mind from the start and sticking to it was best option for me considering the fact I was sleep deprived for the last week barely sleeping for 4-5 hours a day and my mind was overloaded.

In the beginning of the Loop 2, I met with runners from Uzbekistan. They were happy and thanked us for well-organized race. It was such a nice compliment knowing what we have done was noticed by runners. I chit-chatted along the way with various runners on the second and third loops.

I knew if I could make it until evening - 12 hours, I would definitely be fine during the night. After all, I am the Night Runner, I love running in the dark. Well not exactly that. I just prefer cold to hot. I can run with one T-shirt on me on any weather above 2 degrees Celsius and my perfect temperature is between 5 degrees and 18 degrees. That’s how I came to know my body running every single day for more than 5 years. I just love the freshness, the chilliness of this temperature.

As far as drinking and eating go, I tried to balance sugar and salt balance. One loop, I would try to dink coke and fruits, the next loop I eat some salty cheese, qurut (dried dairy product, typically made from fermented milk, and often shaped into small balls) and drink lots of water.

Loop 4, I changed my Backyard Ultra shirt to our 🧡orange team shirt. I have run thousands of miles with our team T-shirt and I just love it. It doesn’t cause itching and very lightweight, breathable and I can wear i all day long without feeling the need to take it off. The mood at the start of the Loop 4 was great. There were splashing water in the Park to water the grass and flowers. I try to run close to them to freshen up myself with water.

The most difficult part of the race, in my opinion, was the stretch from Loop 7 to Loop 10. It was the middle of the day, and the sun beat down mercilessly, causing me to feel a bit dizzy and disoriented. As I trudged through Loop 8, Wayne, a fellow runner, noticed my struggle and asked how I was holding up. I admitted, "Not so great, just hanging in there," to which he encouragingly replied, "Get through the heat, and you can make it to Loop 39 and beyond." He was referring to my 39th birthday the next day, a milestone that suddenly felt within reach despite the grueling conditions. I managed a smile and wished him good luck before pressing on.

Each loop seemed to stretch into an eternity. With every step, I found myself questioning whether I could continue. I made a mental pact with myself: if I didn't feel good by the finish line, I would quit. To conserve energy, I tried to run in the shaded areas and walk through the sun-drenched sections. Fortunately, volunteers were stationed along the mid-route, providing much-needed water and support. Their presence at the water stations was a lifeline, offering a brief respite from the relentless heat.

After completing each loop, I would take a moment to rest and gather my strength. Then, with renewed determination, I would convince myself that I could tackle another loop, knowing that the sun's intensity would gradually wane as the day wore on. This cycle of perseverance and self-encouragement kept me going, loop after loop, until I finally crossed the finish line.

After Loop 10, sun was going down and I feel like a 🦇bat knowing now my favorite time of day is approaching. Music was playing in the Start/Finish area and the worst part was behind now. The amount of support and cheering from our DAV.TJ runners was huge and their happy smiles and calling each runners name when they were finishing their loop - added so much fun and joy the race! Huge thanks to each of them 🧡

Loop 12, the sunset time - one of my best times. Sunrise and sunset are my most favorite times for running and just being outside. I feel special connection with the nature in both of those times. Feeling of gratitude and happiness embodies me every time.

Up until loop 12, I wasn’t paying attention who could be a potential winner of the race. I knew Wayne and Brian were endurance runners but the heat did its job and they were out after Loop 11. In the loop 12, only 6 runners were left: Farrukh from Uzbekistan, Ulughbek, Sergey, Firuz and Masha from Russia.

After each loop, I would do stretching and people come to me to tell me it’s counter-productive. I nod and continue my routine. I think running over many years teaches you to listen to your body and become your own doctor. You start to appreciate your body that it can bear so much pain and suffering and along with your mind take you to experiences you have never thought of. It gives signals when things start going south and one must be able to distinguish where one’s limits. Never in any loop I sat down because sitting down for me was like turning off the engine of the car after running it for many hours. It must be running very efficiently and without interruption. Once I sit down doing nothing, my muscles start contracting making it more difficult for me to start again. Each loop, I would come to finish, drink half a liter of water (salty or sweet depending on the loop) and start stretching until the next loop is announced.

For food I stuck with my old proven meals. Soup, buckwheat, fried potatoes, porridge, coffee. Each loop I will try to take couple 250 ml water flasks and keep my body hydrated. My mom and brother Firuz were there to help me get the food I needed before the next loop. Firuz’s support was essential.

100th kilometer and I feel like the race is just getting started. I thought I would have a need to change my running shoes but the new ones I got - Adidas UltraBoost 22, was just feeling so comfortable that I decided to just run the whole 100 miler with it. I love Adidas UltraBoost series. I have UltraBoost 20 and 21 and I ran almost 10 thousand kilometers on my UltraBoost 20 that I absolutely love it. It doesn’t feel tight, the sides are wide enough that after hours of running my feet feel roomy inside, the top where the arch is isn’t tight. I love everything about this shoe. That’s why when I saw almost 45% discount on the 22th, Sergey and I immediately rushed to buy one.

Music was playing and I was doing my routine stretching. I didn’t notice so many runners came to celebrate my birthday because it was 12 AM the next day. I was so focused on my thoughts that I was caught by surprise. We danced and had fun. Grateful for all those who showed up, cheered and congratulated despite they all ran and came there even though it was at the middle of the night.

The whistle blows and we start new loop. Street lights turned off along the second half of the route and akai Sultonjon who also volunteered and provided drinks, warned the runners to be extra careful on the roads. By this time only few runners left: Sergey, Farrukh from Uzbekistan, Ulughbek and me. All four of us looked like we were just starting. Everyone had their own strategy and doing their best to finish the next loop.

Loop 18, although I had enough energy but my eyes were shutting down. That was due to lack of sleep. I thought to myself I can walk and run with my eyes closed, like a sleepwalker (lunatic) it would be great😅which isn’t the brightest idea at this stage of the race though.

It’s 4:17 AM, Loop 21. Ulughbek did 18 Loops. Sergey and Farrukh were still in the race. All dark but I was really good.

Around after Loop 15, I started each loop with a burst of energy and then relaxed in the middle and pushed again in the end. I wasn’t concerned how many loops others were planning to do. I was aiming at at least 24 loops and if I feel good at 24 loops I was thinking to go for as long as I can tolerate the next heat which I was assuming would start at 10 AM. My thought process was if we pass 24 loops that would be already a great achievement and if we continue and go beyond 33 loops, current record of Kazakhstan, that would be even more interesting.

Sergey did 21 loops. Loop 22 - only Farrukh and I left in the race. I am at 147 km and I am looking forward to getting to a 100 miler. I was super excited I am finally reaching 100 miler.

At Loop 23rd I heard someone say Farrukh wants to drop out before Loop 24. Around after loop 20th, I noticed him couple times looking for a restroom but I didn’t think it was a serious thing that he was having upset stomach. We took a photo together before Loop 23.

I first met Farrukh when he came with his wife to take his race kit and I asked if he previously ran Backyard. We exchanged some words and he said he prepared for Uzbekistan’s Backyard but it was postponed until autumn, so when he heard about Backyard in Khujand, he was excited to run. I was excited we have runners from other countries to make this race very competative. Farrukh is a great runner, very fit and I think his training really helped him to do much better than he did in Uzbekistan. I think Farrukh together with his wife formed a really great team. When Farrukh would finish each loop, she seemed to have like a protocol thing that she went through, making sure he gets the rest he needs, water and food and is ready for the next loop. I hope one day we can run together in another Backyard race together.

Firuz said if he can join me on the last loop because he wanted to close his LazyBot weekly goal. We ran together chit-chatting and sharing our thoughts. Beautiful morning. At mid point, I asked Firuz if I could run alone. I wanted to take time to reflect on the last loop. My nephew Behruz who was diagnosed with cancer several months ago, wanted to come to Backyard so bad. He couldn’t because of his health condition and at the hardest times my thoughts were with him. He is only 16 and him and I have special relationships. Often times he talks with me on different topics and wants to know my view. I feel obligated and care this connection with him. He also loves sunsets and on several occasions asked me to take to the hill of Dushanbe so we can view the sunset together. It’s very heartbreaking but also a reminder to live each day to the fullest. He is slowly recovering and I can’t wait to see him running together.

I ran down the finish and hear music of the last loop. The loop that I aimed to accomplish for so long. Here are some of the footages from the finish.

If I get a chance to live a longer life, I hope one day in my senior years, I can run for as long as I can because in running I find tranquility and peace.

Fast-forward me 20 years.
-Me: 24/48 hour run? Can I do it?
-My mind: Sign me up!
-My body: You can count on me!