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Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon Newsletter
21 January 2010 |
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2010 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
Every year it's the same resolution: Have at least as much fun as I had last year. I usually manage to keep my resolution.
This year started out great. My alma mater (Central Michigan University) was in a bowl game down in Mobile, Alabama, and there was a marathon only a couple days later in Jackson, Mississippi. Hmmm...
A plot was hatched. It was my chance to knock a few more things off my list. I went to my first-ever bowl game. We won in double overtime. I collected beer glasses from three more states, climbed to the highest point in Arkansas and Louisiana, and had a blast running the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson on Saturday. The only thing missing from the weekend was HEAT! I had hoped that the sunny south would be a couple degrees warmer than that. Instead, I had to come home to Michigan to warm up!
Meanwhile, Dr. Ed was successful in running the Goofy Challenge that weekend at Disney World. And Cathy Fenton, one of our Celebrity Pace Team here in GR and an outstanding local runner took second masters in the marathon there! Way to go Cathy.
Well, I know a lot of you are already falling off your 2010 resolutions. That's normal. But do this for just a few minutes.
Sit down and write down a list of things you want to accomplish. People you'd like to meet, places to go, things to experience. Try to list 100 things. Dream.
Now, pick something on your list that's just a tiny bit outside your comfort zone and sign up for it. Put a few bucks on the line, whether it's running a race, booking a trip, whatever. Your brain will take over and start figuring out how to accomplish it.
The next thing you know, your "comfort zone" has been expanded.
Here's the point:
It's not all about the new year. Barring any unforseen stuff, you have longer than just a year to accomplish your dreams. The important thing is to do SOMETHING to get you started. Use the new year to do that. Or use some other random thing--a January thaw, Superbowl Sunday, the furnace turning on, whatever else it takes to jog you out of your normal pattern. But MAKE YOUR LIST. Life will never be the same.
MARATHONS ARE FILLING UP!
My friends up in Traverse City at the Bayshore Marathon are already full for a May marathon. Boston filled up in what? November? I know it's early, but you're always welcome to sign up early here too! Don't know if we'll fill up, but the earlier we can project the numbers, the better our chance of making some adjustments, ordering some more shirts/medals/supplies, and having room for more.
FIFTH THIRD RIVER BANK RUN MENTOR PROGRAM!!
Week 4 coming up. This weekend, we're going to run from John Ball Park to the FINISH LINE! You can picture in your mind what it will be like, working your way down Michigan to Winter, down to Fulton, over to Ottawa, and then to the FINISH LINE at Caulder Plaza. Imagine the crowds going wild as your name is called.
Come on out and join the Grand Rapids Running Club as we help runners train for the coolest spring race in Grand Rapids, the Fifth Third River Bank Run.
SOCKS, HATS, EXTRA SHIRTS
Extra Red Shirts are available at the BUYSTUFF link. $20. Socks, $5.00. Hats are $10.00. www.cooladventures.net/buystuff.htm. Still have a bunch of the 2008 shirts too, if you like. |
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The Greatest Place in the World by Don Kern
(From November 2009 issue of Outdoor Athlete)
As race director of the Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon, I'm in a unique position to witness some of the most amazing moments in human accomplishment. Every year, I stand at the Marathon Finish Line, and greet runners as they finish their 26.2 mile journey. But to say that I only "witness" these moments would not do justice to the inspiration I feel as each individual crosses that finish line.
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t started one day a few years ago, when I watched two women cross a marathon finish line. One turned to the other, threw her arms around her, and thanked her over and over as the tears of joy streamed down her face. And down my face. And down the faces of everyone I could see around me. That's when I knew, THIS is someplace special.
The hundreds, now thousands, of runners who cross the finish line here are not strangers. For months we've corresponded. They've read my emails and we've interacted. Through the newsletters they've met much of the staff. They've asked for advice, and been offered encouragement. I've been where they are, many, many times. I've fought the same battles they are fighting. We have become friends on many levels.
A marathon isn't like any other race. Almost anyone can get up in the morning and get through a 5K. A marathon isn't the same. You don't just get out of bed one day and run a marathon. Committing to train for, and run, 26.2 miles requires a serious plan. It's not just a day. Or a week. It's MONTHS of preparation. It's hard work and sacrifice. For most, it involves nearly half a year of training, sometimes in extreme weather conditions. It means many hours devoted to long runs each week, and feeling the resulting sore legs, tired bodies, and at times even nagging injuries.
After the race starts on a cold October morning, we wait. Reports come in from aid stations, with accounts of runners as they progress through the course. Before long, in the distance, we see the fast runners, coming down the last half-mile of the course. They trickle in a few at a time, and the floodgates open and finishers start streaming across the line.
These runners, my friends, have trained for months. They've made sacrifices, putting aside other things they wanted to do, and placing other plans on hold so they could accomplish something really big. They put action plans in place, and they have worked through them. As the finish, they have done something that only a very small part of the population has ever done. At that moment, right at the spot where I'm standing, all of those plans, all of those dreams, all of that preparation finally comes to fruition. They cross the finish line, their journey is complete.
I shake hands, high-five, hug, and congratulate every one that I can. I spend much of the day there, totally involved in the moment. I personally share with each one of them the excitement, the pride, the pain, the exhilaration, and sometimes even the bittersweet tears of runners who have run the race not for themselves, but for another person or cause near and dear to their hearts.
Emotions run wild. They laugh. They cry. They yell. They pray. They call their mom on their cell phones. They REJOICE. The plan has come together. Whether they've run for three hours or for seven hours, the feeling is the same. Victory. Accomplishment. A plan that came together. New life begins here, free of the limitations of the past. The impossible has become possible. It's the greatest place in the world to be that day - it's the MARATHON FINISH LINE. |
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Maybe you'll discover muscles you never knew you had. That's the way I feel sometimes. I keep ripping new workouts out of magazines I have lying around. I'll think, "That looks interesting." Then before I ever try it on my own I'll have everyone doing it. (Yeah, sometimes Jim lets me be the leader. :-)) Sometimes I get the feeling that things could have been a little easier. Oh well. "Whatever doesn't kill me....", right?
Want to feel the burn? Join us for a couple of free trial sessions of our super-secret underground Boot Camp every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00 a.m. So far, it's going well. We even found a great place or two to do hill work out of the weather. Want to try a couple free sessions? Email me with the subject line "Boot Camp"
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Cool things are BOUND to happen!
It's a new year. A fresh start. Days are getting longer. Fill your lungs with some fresh air and enjoy some winter runs with some good friends. Make some plans and give yourself something to look forward to.
See you in October at the FINISH LINE!
and the adventure continues....
Don Kern
Race Director, Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon
P.S. If you want to respond to this newsletter, change the subject line so I don't just end up thinking it's a bounce notice or something. Thanks! |
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| And now...a word from our SPONSORS!
Pepsi Bottling of West Michigan
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| The Schedule
September 2010
20 Mile Training Run hosted by Gazelle Sports
October 16th 2010 9 - 6
Health & Fitness Expo and Packet Pickup at the David D Hunting YMCA
October 16th 2010 Bagel Beanery Kids Marathon
Final 1.2 miles at 1:00 pm
October 17th 2010 Seventh
Annual Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon, Half Marathon, and Relay
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| LIFETIME RUNNER |
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Enter Once, Run Forever!
You can enter the Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon for LIFE.
For $725, you get to enter the full or the half marathon for as long as we're still in business!
You'll get a permanent number, some extra swag, and the adoration of your fellow runners.
If you've already registered for this year but would like to upgrade, we can make that work too--just email me and we'll get it figured out. | |
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