Everyone Can Make Merry-thoning: October 1, 2006

If you are reading this blog, it is likely that you have a small or large interest in running, traveling, or public service. If you consider yourself an actual “runner,” get off your duff away from the computer and out for a run pronto- we’re in the business of motivation here. You’re going to get some tough love in this blog from the girl running 26.2 miles across a block of ice next February. I don’t know if I can offer inspiration from my experiences, but my hope is that In the Running will encourage you to seek a cause or a goal (whether personal, professional, charitable, or otherwise) that you could be In the Running for. You might not think running is your thing. You might think that the great Almighty really did not intend for you to run, i.e. you have webbed feet, enjoy eating bread from small children, and frequently say the word “quack.” If these characteristics are true, then you are indeed not a runner. You are in fact, a duck. Take a look in the mirror, and I’d bet that you are (probably) not a duck, and thus are capable of experiencing a marathon in some powerful way.

Personally, my belief is that with discipline, guidance, and focus, anyone (and I mean anyone) can finish a marathon, and it is one of those things you should experience before you die. I am consistently amazed that every single year 20,000 to 30,000 people line up for marathons like New York, Boston, and Chicago, and that there are multiple marathons every weekend of the year in towns and cities all over the world. I am even more amazed by how many people run for other people and charitable organizations. If you lack the desire (or your webbed feet prevent you from taking on the marathon), running is just a vehicle for an experience. The marathon is a euphemism for a challenge. You can run, walk, skip, cheer, volunteer, or support a friend through an entire marathon. The other loophole here is of course, that you don’t even have to make it to the starting line to experience a marathon…you can just keep reading this blog.

And now for what you’ve really been waiting for…blog content from the marathons themselves!