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e-newsletterJanuary 2014
In This Issue
M&B News
Between the Lines
Word on the Street
Subscriber of the Month
Marathon & Beyond
 

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Marathon and Beyond Midcap
Editor Rich Benyo's Young Adult Novel

Rich Benyo is more than just the editor of M&B and one of the first "maniacs" to complete the Death Valley double crossing (300 miles). Rich has written 20+ books, including two books for young adults (YA). His most recent YA book is entitled The South Street Gang Goes Downhill - Fast. It's 1956 in eastern Pennsylvania, and as part of the July 4 celebration, a soapbox derby race is scheduled for the always-dangerous Fisher's Hill. The South Street Gang gets to work on their racer, only to have it destroyed by the competition. They regroup and create a unique entry with which they hope to go up against the richest kid in town. In typical fashion, nothing goes exactly as the gang hopes. For more about Rich, check out his website at http://richardbenyo.com/.  

Sri Chinmoy and the Self-Transcendence Marathon    

 

In his article "It's Not About the Shirt - Or is it?" Fred Stewart got more than he bargained for in the Self-Transcendence Sri Chinmoy Marathon. Run on a beautiful, flat course around Rockland Lake in Congers, New York, the race is a series of 2.9497-mile loops.

 

 

Sri Chinmoy (whose full name is Chinmoy Kumar Ghose) was born in East Bengal on August 27, 1931, and was brought up in the Hindu tradition. He immigrated to New York in 1964 and opened a meditation center in Queens. He was a strong believer in physical fitness, particularly endurance sports.

 

Over time, Chinmoy built up a worldwide following of disciples, and in 1977 the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team was founded by members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. One of the cornerstones of Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is the expression of self-transcendence, which is going beyond personal limits and reaching new levels of inner and outer perfection. "I do not compete with the rest of the world. I compete only with myself, for my progress is my true victory." (Sri Chinmoy)

 

Not sure about running multiple loops in a marathon, Stewart found out that the Self-Transcendence Sri Chinmoy Marathon was much more than that. In each participant's race packet was a thin, white cotton t-shirt - which, surprisingly, most runners wore during the race. But it wasn't about the shirt, or was it? On the back of each shirt was a different quote from Sri Chinmoy - quotes that inspired runners for the entire 26.2 distance. Here are a few of the quotes:

 

"My life is only half full when I receive. My heart is completely full only when I give."

 

"You do not have to be the fastest starter. Just be a starter! You will, without fail, reach your destination."

 

"To be true to oneself is the hardest test of life."

 

In 2007, Sri Chinmoy wrote the "Marathon Song." Here are the words to the song, along with a short video of singers.

 

"Marathon is an unimaginable

Joy experience of the heart.

 

"Marathon is an unbearable

Suffering experience of the

Body vital and the mind."

Marathon song by Sri Chinmoy
Marathon song by Sri Chinmoy
Click here to read more about Sri Chinmoy.
Word on the Street
Wisconsin Marathon 
May 3, 2014 
Kenosha, Wisconsin

 

The Wisconsin Marathon knows how to keep things cheesy! The marathon and half marathon will have its sixth running on May 3, 2014, in Kenosha. 


Regular runners of the race love the laid back atmosphere and community feel of the race. And, in a city like Kenosha, it is hard to not feel like you are running a race in your home away from home. Many of the runners live within an hour's drive of Kenosha, Milwaukee from the north and Chicago from the south. The race pulls not only runners from both of these metropolitan areas but also from every state and even other countries.

The majority of both the marathon course and the half marathon course is run along the Lake Michigan shoreline, giving runners many beautiful views of one of the Great Lakes. The course winds through the residential, downtown, and park areas of Kenosha, as well as residential areas of neighboring Pleasant Prairie, giving runners a chance to break up the monotony of sights and sounds that sometimes come with big city races.

Then, of course, there is the cheese! There is cheese wherever you look. The race has an "All Cheese" start corral open to anyone who is willing to "don the dairy." The finisher's medal for both the full and half marathon famously features a large image of, yes, cheese. To complete the "cheese" theme, all the runners receive a piece of cheese in their post-race food bag. It is the perfect thing to scarf down before heading off to the post-race party where runners enjoy a free brat, beer, and live music. Click here for more info.
Subscriber of the Month: Rod Lewis 

Last October, we saw Rod and his girlfriend, Arlene, at the Chicago Marathon expo. Rod is a long-time subscriber of M&B, so we talked to him about how he got into running and where running has taken him. Here is his story.
 

I started running in high school, but running was my not first choice of sports. My small, all boys' Catholic high school in Chicago had about 300 students with a total of 75 students who played on all the team sports combined. My sport of choice was baseball. I played on the junior varsity team my freshman year followed by three years on the varsity team (playing shortstop and third base). I had grown up playing baseball and 16" softball in the alley behind my house, and I loved the game. But, in the beginning of my junior year in gym class, we had to do a timed mile run. The gym teacher was also the athletic director and cross-country coach. Each year, he would build his cross-country team by recruiting the first two or three finishers in the timed-mile run from each gym class, and that's when I became a runner.

Because football equipment was too expensive, our fall sports were soccer and cross-country.  And, since the school was only about a mile from the lakefront running path, we did most of our training on the path along Lake Michigan. Occasionally, we did speed work in Washington Park, a few blocks from the school. We were also fortunate to have another cross country-coach running with us who was a religion instructor and a former Marquette University All-American runner. He taught us the value of speed work, LSD, stretching, and core work. It was great being part of a team of 30 runners.

I continued running cross-country while attending Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. One of my teammates, Cal Lawrence, had started running marathons, and I thought this sounded really interesting. He told me about his experiences running the Decatur Marathon and the Chicago Marathon.

So, my sophomore year, I decided to run the Chicago Marathon. Cal trained me because I knew very little about marathoning. We ran the race together, had a great time, and I was hooked. I finished out the season with the cross-country team, but my junior and senior years, I gave up cross-country so that I could focus exclusively on running the Chicago Marathon.

During my senior year, I ran my third Chicago Marathon in a time of 2:53, missing a Boston qualifying time by three minutes. That was really the beginning of a long love for the Chicago Marathon. While at Millikin, Cal and I, along with a few others, founded the Millikin Marathon Association, and we still run the Chicago Marathon every year.  

After graduating with an accounting degree, I was accepted into the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, and my college marathon training helped with the physical requirements of Officer Candidate School. After my tour of duty, mostly at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, I came back to Chicago and resumed marathoning. There have been a few years I haven't run a marathon or an ultra because of grad school or studying for the CPA exam, and even one year when I "retired" from marathoning after running what I thought would be my only Boston Marathon. I "said" that I had met all of my running goals - my family laughed at that.

I guess they had reason to laugh because at 39, I ran my first ultra, the George Cheung Memorial 50K on the Chicago lakefront. The plan was to use this race as preparation to run 40 miles on my 40th birthday. It worked out well, and on my birthday a month later, I ran my own 40 @ 40 run: a Rod-a-thon. My girlfriend, Arlene, carried supplies on her bike as she rode along with me from the the south end of the Chicago lakefront path to the north end, and back with a 4-mile mini loop to start it off. I came in first place, but the trees were gaining on me in the later miles. I continued this birthday run/Rod-a-thon for the next 5 years, adding a mile for each birthday.

In the fall of 2004, I ran the Chicago Lakefront 50/50 ultramarathon - I ran the 50-mile race. I like the relaxed atmosphere and the convenience of having the race where I do a lot of my long training runs. Most of my day-to-day running is in Palmer Park, where I'm a member of the Palmer Park Running Club. The park has a one-mile path that's filled with club members, many of whom are marathoners.  At 50, I'm one the younger members. It's often amusing to see a cocky 20- or 30-year-old try to out run one of the 60- or 70-year-old club members. Youth never carries the day.

Through the years, I've been fortunate to run 29 marathons, six of them Boston, two 50K races, eight 50 milers, and five "Rod-a thons." This is part of my never-ending quest to prove that cookies, cake, and ice cream are all parts of an essential food group.  

Upcoming Marathon & Beyond Events
Miracle Match Marathon: Waco, Texas, January 25, 2014
Napa Valley Marathon Expo: February 28-March 1, 2014
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