Some people ask about my marathon times. Look, I couldn’t walk up two flights of stairs two years ago without breathing hard. I will take a finish of a 26.2 mile race in ANY time. For the record though, I average around 4:20 for a marathon. My favorite marathon, however, was my slowest. My cousin Tericia, who I hadn’t seen in 18 years is a friend on Facebook. She started running last year and on my way home from my Maryland Marathon, while she was visiting my parents I said to her, “run a marathon with me.” She wasn’t sure, but agreed.
So for the first time in 18 years, we met at the start of the first ever Walkway Over the Hudson Marathon. She told me her time would be somewhat north of 6 hours. Who cares. The Walkway Marathon was my favorite for lots of reasons: 1. It’s in my Hudson Valley – how lucky am I. 2. It crosses the Hudson River – awesome. 3. It’s on a paved rail trail, which is just awesome. 4. It was crowded with lots of excitement and great support. 5. Most importantly, I got to catch up with 18 years worth of family history over a nice long run/jog and sometimes bit of a walk and skip. What great fun.
I don’t care what your actual time is. For recreational runners – particularly those who have overcome obesity, I’m going to suggest to you the goal should be simple: finish with your heart beating. We both did.
Morbidly Obese to MARATHON Runner 