This weekend thousands of people will take to the streets of Hamilton and Burlington for the annual Around the Bay Road Race. It is the oldest of its kind in North America, having begun in 1894.

It draws people from from near and far who challenge their determination to run either five kilometres or 30 big ones.

Thirty K, yah right.

I am amazed by people who run in races like this. I admire them. Maybe some day I will find the passion to run and run and actually enjoy it.

Right now, I have a love-hate relationship with that athletic endeavour.

I started running about a month ago. I figured it was time to get up and get out after the extremely long winter slumber. Time to get motivated and keep some semblance of fitness in my life.

I'm not a gym person. That environment doesn't appeal to me. Why would I put myself in an environment where I will most certainly be judged alongside buff jocks and veritable Adonises?

Plus, fitness clubs come at a cost and well, I'm kind of cheap. I'm the type of person who always looks for deals. I especially like things that are free.

So I decided that to start getting back in shape, I would put on my runners and pound the pavement.

It didn't take long for me to remember just how much I hate running.

I'm not sure of the exact distance of my route ... I think it's around 3.5 kilometres. I run from Mohawk to the escarpment and back. At the half- way mark, there's no refreshment table. What awaits me at the turn is the dreaded escarpment stairs at the end of Garth, where the Queen Street access emerges from the bowels of the daily grind.

It's about 300 steel steps of pain. The bottom comes out at Hillcrest Avenue in lower Hamilton. Nice street, nice area of Hamilton.

Anyone who knows these stairs will know they are steep, real steep. And the stairs are short, meaning you really have to pay attention.

The Garth stairs are not like the stairs at Chedoke. Beginning at Scenic Drive (at Upper Paradise Road) and emerging down to the municipal golf course parking lot, the Chedoke stairs are a cake walk.

Once the snow and ice melt, my plan is to run a circuit that takes me down the Chedoke stairs, along the rail trail and back up the Garth stairs. Beginning and ending at my house, I figure it will work out to almost 10 kilometres.

Many people use the Garth stairs as their own personal StairMaster. Trust me, it's a good workout.

Many regular joggers use it. The more athletic ones usually pass me at some point. But I do my best.

When I finish, I feel like blowing out a lung. And I still have to get back home.

I find listening to music helps pass the time. I notice I'm not the only one out there with little tiny speakers shoved in their ears.

If all goes as planned and I maintain the willpower to submit myself to the tortures of running through the spring, summer and fall, I figure I can continue to enjoy the things I most love about life - good food, drink and not-so-healthy treats.

I'm usually pretty good in the summer months. I enjoy summer sports like golf and baseball and I get out and move around a lot more.

I even started swinging an iron in my garage last week, hoping this will be the year I turn the corner and start putting together consecutive good rounds, not just one here and one there.

I'm not sure I will ever enjoy running a big race like Around the Bay. At this point, I'm not officially in training. But I applaud everyone who takes part this weekend. I know quite a few people who will participate this Sunday.

I support you all the way. Consider it my little push along the way. I'll be with you in spirit, however, if I even tried to attempt to run 30 kilometres right now you'd all be reading my obituary in the paper next Monday.

It would read: Mark Cripps passed away suddenly last Sunday, doing something he hated more than anything - running. Memorial donations can be made to the Garth stairs restoration project.