ALT Marathons and meditation - what’s the link? Born in war-torn Congo, my childhood was marked by violence - both on the streets and within my home itself. I didn’t know how to process out the trauma I witnessed and lived through, and felt a compelling need to run away I needed an outlet for the fierce brutal anger that was building up inside me, which I didn’t know how to release. It was like there was a noise that would not stop. Alcohol offered a brief escape, so I used it. When that wasn’t enough, I turned to more extreme alternatives, but nothing gave me a lasting solution - until I found meditation and yoga. The healing stillness of meditation offered me a way to genuinely transform myself instead of temporarily masking my pain. Finally, after a life of running away, I can run for fun. After a few years of committed practice, I’m not the only one who knows. Everyone around me agrees: transformation has happened.