Why I ran an Ultra Marathon

Having spent most of my life being active in some type of fitness for fun, it was after having four boys that I set out to find a way to be more efficient at it.  That's where running came in.  My Dad had been a daily runner when we were growing up and I remembered he could quickly get it in and get back to the happenings of the day without missing a beat.  I wanted that!  But, although active in workouts, I had never actually just RAN even a block!  So, it was February 2007 when I decided to teach myself to RUN.  "And, so it is..."

I won't go into every detail of my running journey right now, but it began one block at a time...RUN, WALK, RUN WALK...until I could run one mile non-stop. Then, I set out to run five; then run consistently...and it was May of that year that I ran my FIRST RACE... it would be 10 Miles and my Dad would be at the FINISH LINE!  My first motivation...bigger than my excuses...and it got me there.  Thank you, Dad!  Then, I found myself saying, "I'd run a marathon 'some day.'" I'd be turning 40 in a year and a half, so I said, "when I turn 40, I'll do it."  I just seemed to love it and it all progressed sooner than expected. I was at my first Chicago Marathon at 39...just in case I couldn't FINISH on my first try!  Well, I did...and I've been addicted ever since.  

I showed up for that same Chicago Marathon when I turned 40, as planned, and at that FINISH LINE set my next goal to "complete the Six World Marathon Majors before I turn 50!"  London, Boston, Berlin, New York, Chicago and Tokyo.  I figured it was far enough away that I could "slack a little" and still get it done.  Well, lots of LIFE happened... a divorce, lots of travel for a new job, raising four boys, having my first grandkids, moving to Florida... yep, LOTS of life happened...but, NOTHING stopped me and on April 15, 2018, I earned that Six Star Medal four months before my 50th Birthday!  

Now, let me tell you... each of those races have great stories of their own, I'll share some day, but having accomplished that BIG GOAL, I felt is was ok to simply "retire from running" and really just do it for fun.  "I'll do 5k, 10k, maybe a half marathon once in a while, but I don't feel the need to go that far anymore."  

Well, in step my sons.... they, too, by the way, each have great stories of their own, I'll share some day, but this is the story of how I ended up here... My oldest son, Addison, who has been an elite athlete his whole life, but not a runner; reached out to his younger brother, Tristan, to see if he'd like to run a RACE with him sometime.  How I was told the story goes is that among their discussion when decided how FAR they should run, they realized, "well, we have to run FARTHER than a MARATHON, because Mom's done that!"  So, in 2019, Addison and Tristan ran their first 50k race.  Wow!  Hmmm.... Having ran a dozen marathons myself... I knew what it had to take to accomplish running 32.2 miles...and I was IMPRESSED.  And, frankly, very PROUD.

After the dust settled a little, that pride soon turned to INSPIRATION and I found myself saying, "within the next FIVE YEARS, I'll do a 50k myself!"  Oops...did I say that OUT LOUD?!  Yep.  I did.  And, they have since ran yet ANOTHER 50k.  So, now, the date is set and my journey has begun...only 100 days to MY 50K.  

I'll be running it the week of my next birthday in August 2021 and have come up with a genius plan that will make it seem like I'm not running 50k at all!  (If that's possible, while still actually running it!)  Mindset people... getting to any FINISH LINE is 90% mindset.  So, with FOUR sons, ONE with a wife, ONE a girlfriend, and FOUR grandkids....if each of them joins me for 5K...I will start that RUN with my oldest son and finish it pushing my baby grandson across the FINISH LINE in a stroller.  The others will run, bike, skateboard, rollerblade, whatever excites them... for their part of my 50K.  And, I can't wait!!!! See you at the FINISH.