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As the year draws to an end, I’m feeling more like a slug than America’s Marathon Man. Why, because this time last year I was just returning home to Spearfish from the HOPS Marathon by Tampa Bay, having completed my 200th 26.2 miler for the year. This year, as I return from the same race, run in the same warm sunshine along the same lovely bay front coastline, my marathon tally is considerably less……the HOPS marathon in 2001 was only my 6th of the year. (Causing some of my friends to have the audacity to call me a slacker. The nerve). My training miles for the year pretty much parallel my marathoning miles…….minimal. I still love to run, at least when I drag myself out the door to do it, and I still feel the same exhilaration throughout my whole body when I’m out there clickin’ off the miles, but all year I have struggled with motivation. I suppose I shouldn’t be so hard on myself though, if I were to abide by that theory of a day off for every mile run…..let’s see, 5,240 divided by 365, means I could take the next 14 years off. So maybe one year of slacking isn’t too bad after all. I’m beginning to wonder though, if the marathon has become too routine for me. I am in the kind of shape, after 26 years of running, that I can run a marathon on any given day, with, or without training, and the “mental” challenge of the marathon evaporated when I peeled off the wristwatch and started being more concerned about "having" a good time, rather than "running" a good time. Then, when you factor into the equation that my goal is just to finish, without any real concern about how long it takes, you get a guy with a rather non-pulsed attitude about the whole thing. Four and half-hours, five hours, five and a half-hours, what difference does it make? As long as I have a good time; meet some new people; have time to stop for a donut along the way; and cross the finish line holding my wife Elaine’s hand…..I say it’s been a good day. And another thing, there are some very interesting characters populating the middle, to the back of the pack, and with my Brooks set on cruise control, I have ample opportunity to engage them in conversation. In fact, I ran into a couple of those "characters" in Tampa. Don McNelly, and Wally Herman. We had some time to talk…at our pace, talking sometimes takes precedence over our bipedal forward motion. Don and Wally were telling me how excited they are about the fact that early in 2002, they will each be running their 600th official marathon (including ultras), and that they are going to do it together, at the same race. Don is 83, and Wally is somewhere in the 80 to 85 age bracket too. Don, by the way, holds the world record for the most marathons run past age 70…….an unbelievable 224. Now admittedly, these two guys are way over the edge with this marathoning thing; and yes, it does take Don 7+ hours on a lot of days, but the point is that they are still out there covering the distance two or three or four times a month. (And people say I’m nuts). You could be saying to yourself; “those two guys must be the co-owners of the world record for most marathons in one lifetime……wrong. Norm Frank has passed the 800 mark. I haven’t seen Norm in a while, but I know he’s still out there….. the reigning king of the mega-marathoners. Why do I even mention these “freaks of nature,” these “obsessed” runners, because when I saw Don and Wally at the expo, and out on the course, laughing, smiling, just having a good time enjoying being alive and active, I look at them and think to myself, “right on.” They’re doing what they love to do; I’m doing what I love to do; the people around us, most of them at least, are doing what they love to do……life is good. So, as I look ahead to ’02 and decide what my running goals will be for the year, I’ll be thinking about these two “old” guys and what an inspiration they are to me. And I will resolve to be enthusiastic and consistent about my running, just like I was 27 years ago when I began this marathon journey. Remembering that: It’s the Goal, not the Glory, that keeps us Goin’.
Have a PR year…….Positively Refreshing; Be the inspiration for someone else to start running; Pray for Peace and look for me on the road somewhere.
Jerry
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Go out and commit a random act of kindness.....they're fun.
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