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Earlier this year, we spoke to Jared Goldman, who was planning a 300km running journey across Belarus in search of his family roots. Now, four months later, Jared has completed his personal and emotive quest, and taking home an experience that proved more than he could ever imagine.

“Busiel” I say, gesturing at the huge nest above our heads. “No home,” replies Jaŭhen, since the nest is empty and no bird is in sight. “Working,” I add. After those words, we trot off again in silence.

Not much more conversation is possible since Jaŭhen does not speak a lot of English and my (Bela-)Russian is even worse. But we do not need words to understand each other and there is no awkward silence whatsoever. From the first few metres that we run together, we have an understanding of the road, the circumstances and of each other that is deeper than words can ever express.

Falling into a rhythm

Once outside of Minsk, the real Belarus starts to unfold right in front of our eyes. We fall into a rhythm, our cadence matches, and it is like we had been running together before. The small two-laned country roads turn into village roads, which at times turn into dirt tracks.

Jaŭhen is my running partner. I had chatted with him on Instagram just a few weeks before. We met in person just minutes before we started running.

Little did I know that this would become one of the most important elements on my 300km run across Belarus to find my roots. I had planned this trip for seven months and trained more in that time than my entire 2018 running year.

Why did the ‘Bearded Runner’, as Jauchen is known on Instagram, come with me? I’m sure there are many reasons, but I suspect that I helped remind him just how lovely Belarus can be.

Experiencing Belarus

I would have never known about the kolodets or the small water wells that lined the village streets. We would open the doors to little houses and reel down the bucket to the water waiting to be filled. After fetching it back up, we were rewarded with ice cold water for drinking and for taking an ice bath to cool us down in the hot summer sun.

We ran 64km the day before the finish. That night we stayed with Mila, a character from the small village of Lenin. Her mother made draniki (potato pancakes) and it was harvest season, so the garden had a never-ending supply of cucumbers and tomatoes, and the fruit was literally falling from the trees. I got to experience the real Belarus hospitality.

We would coin the phrase: “This is Belarus, baby.”

Saying goodbye

But like many mornings, we had to say goodbye to all our new friends. The last marathon was on the plan, and the finish line was waiting in the village of my ancestors.

I had to enjoy every moment surrounded by new brother and other people I had inspired to run. It was exactly where I wanted to be, and I knew that soon it would be over. The one main thing I learned to the fullest was to be present and enjoy the moment.

As we got closer, we were joined my more runners and running groups. We stopped to take selfies at the village sign that indicated we were now in the city limits of the town of my forefathers.

The village I had been thinking of for the last seven months was now beneath my feet. I was excited but at the same time I was a little bit sad the we had reached the finish line so fast and we were still so fit.

Completing the journey

Those last few hundred meters were a blur as I was lost in thought about where I had come from, where I currently was, and where I would be going. I saw the village waiting for us with women dressed in traditional costume, holding the red finish line. I turned to my new-found brother and grabbed his hand, because this journey was no longer about me, it was about everybody running to their roots.

I spent the next few days in the village of Kozan Harodok, searching for the answers to all the questions I had about my family.

Everyone likes to ask: did you find what you were looking for? But it was not always about finding the proof of my biological family. This would have been too easy, not leaving any mystery to keep searching.

It no longer mattered about finding proof of my family of the past because at the end of this run, I had found the family of my future.

Photo credit: Alexey Skrynnikov and Stanislav Korshunov

HOKA fan Jared Goldman will embark on a challenging and personal journey this summer. On 10 August, Jared will start his 230km run across Belarus to learn about himself and the land of his ancestors. Read on to find out more about Jared and how he is is aiming to open doors to his past, present and future.

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. My dad is from East St. Louis, which is just over the Mississippi River in Illinois. We are not really sure why or how his grandparents ended up there. His grandfather was a shoemaker, and his father was a pharmacist.

They were Jewish immigrants. My great-grandfather arrived in America in 1910, bringing his son (my grandfather – pictured below) and wife three years later. From what I understand, this was very normal at the time, with the Russian pogroms and antisemitism on the rise.

Family history

I remember a few Jewish holidays growing up, going to their house and celebrating with them. I can remember the layout of the house, the bedroom, dining room, office. The memories come back the more that I think about it, even as I write this.

I was once given a big bag of silver dollars from them. This is the only thing, that I can remember them giving me, and that I still have to this day. They are so important to me as a family heirloom that I have them locked up in my mother’s safety deposit box at the bank in the United States.

Rebellious youth

My mother converted to Judaism after she married my father. As you can imagine, for my father to marry a gentile must have a been a major family topic. I would say that my mother took on the religion head on. Growing up, she was very active in the Jewish community in St. Louis and is still to this day.

When I was younger [Jared pictured above with his family], I had to go to Sunday school and Hebrew school and to have a Bar Mitzvah. This is where my rebellion started. I was mean and nasty to my mother, particularly since my parents were divorced, and felt that, even at that age, I wanted to be able to make my own religious choices. I was never sure that this was the one that I identified with.

Going traveling

I left to go traveling in 1999. One year was my mission, while looking for work to extend the party. I ended up in Berlin, far from where I grew up and far from my parents. This is how I wanted it.

But over the years, I started to forget why I had been angry and went back once a year to visit. I developed a deeper bond with my parents, and a genuine interested in my family history. I started asking more and more questions. Every time I visited, I would ask my dad to show me all his pictures and tell me about what he knew about his family.

There was always a bit of an unknown as to where my grandfather’s parents were from. The more I looked into it, I discovered they are originally from Belarus.

Finding running

I found running some years ago. It changed my life, it sobered me up and it has taught me a lot about myself. Now I want to use this project to learn more about myself and my family by running through the birth country of my ancestors.

I want to pay respect to my family by doing something that I feel passionate about and to show them that I am not running away, but that I am running home.

I want to see and get a feel for where they are from. I want to discover Belarus by foot. I hope not to bring closure but to learn more about this land, and to find out more information about my family. I hope it does the opposite to closure. I hope that it opens up new doors to both the past, present and future.

Jared is wearing the Clifton 5. You can follow Jared’s journey this summer on Instagram @jareddanielgoldman and via his website www.jareddanielgoldman.com.

Photo credit: Jared Goldman and Sandra Wickert

Tag: belarus

HOKA fan Jared completes journey across Belarus