The loneliness of the Almaty runner

I am alone. There are no runners in Almaty. There are no routes yet plotted on Mapmyrun.com. Tonight I braved the gloom and cold and struck out in my Asics. I endured the park bench teenage titters, the odd smirk, the stares and even a drunk who blurted something at me as I jogged past, something Russian and incomprehensible to my untrained ear. “Why run when you can drink?” he seemed to be saying.