My phone alarm rang at 3:45 a.m., breaking the silence of my household while suddenly flooding my room with light, waking me up from my short nap after I got home from work at 1:30 a.m., which may vary at times. I felt miserable as my body wanted nothing to do but sleep, yet I also felt a strong urge to get up.
“Pull yourself together” a voice in my head said. “You can do this”.
I rolled over and sat on the edge of my bed, letting my feet touch the cold marble as it had for many mornings. I wanted to fall back to sleep, but I finally mustered up the courage I needed to cut my slumber short, face an increasingly dropping temperature, and the fact that I needed to get my body moving. It was time for a run, one of the only things I looked forward to without fail, particularly because the place where I run had become special: the Reservatório Park (水塘公園).
After getting into the right mindset, I tied my trainers and began my walk there. Since I picked up running not too long ago, the reservoir had become the place where I go to get some much-needed exercise, relieve stress and clear my head. It is the best place to be if it had been a particularly long day.
For a single hour, there would be nothing but peace. The only thing I would hear is the sound of a few passing cars and the rhythmic steps of other runners as they left you trailing in their dust as they ran with varying intensity, along the 2.6-kilometre path.
Seniors seemed to make up most of the people exercising at that time, most of them wishing each other a good morning, taking part in pleasant conversation with each friend or acquaintance they would come across. There didn’t seem to be a shortage of smiles regardless of the topic they were talking about.
The reservoir also seems to be a great place to see or meet some interesting people. At around 4:30 a.m., there might be someone singing Cantonese opera while facing the water as they let the cool wind grace them. You might even pass a couple speaking in what sounds to be Hakka. Perhaps two friends are taking a brisk morning stroll while catching up on current events. My favourite part of the morning comes near the end of my run. I usually pass by a small elderly woman with bright eyes that radiate positivity. She would greet everybody, even those she didn’t know, with a pleasant smile and a friendly “jo san” (“good morning”) before heading off to circle the rest of the path. It’s this moment that signals a better day ahead.
Running at the reservoir has become special to me, with health, peace, and the interesting people that I get to see every now and then making it so. Each time dawn breaks while I am there, I feel like I am waking up rejuvenated with the city. And there is no other place I’d rather be.
A manruns at Reservatório Park. – Photo taken yesterday by Rui Pastorin
