On May 17, 2009, I ran the Cleveland Marathon. It was my 15th lifetime race and marked the first time I had ever run 26.2 miles in under 4 hours.
I wish I remembered the name of the guy in this photo with me. He and I cheered each other on to individual PRs in the closing mileage. When I think about why I keep doing these silly things, it usually comes down to those moments. I’ve talked about it before but it’s when friends, family, even strangers cheer you on to do your very best… and you’re cheering other people on to do the same. It is all about the individual achievement in the most communal environment possible. I wanted this guy to beat his PR. He wanted me to break 4 hours. We pushed and prodded and cajoled and cheered each other to the finish. And so did many, many volunteers, supporters, family and friends.
I’m headed back to Cleveland this weekend. It’s their 40th Anniversary race and it seemed like a good idea when I registered to go back and run it again. Unfortunately, or perhaps really fortunately, a buddy of mine scored me a spare ticket to see U2 at the Rose Bowl back in California this Sunday night. So I’m really, REALLY trusting in my ability to do this thing in a timely manner and make it to the airport… and then really, really, REALLY trusting in the airlines to get me back to LAX by 4 PM… and then really, really, really, REALLY trusting in traffic to get me to my parked car and out to Pasadena for the show.
Racing isn’t always just on the marathon course. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.