Hello runner friends!
Welcome back to the Bass Pro Fitness Series
MIDWEEK M😊TIVATI😊N blog!
Let's address the latter one first. What's wrong with being in last place anyway? I mean someone has to claim the position right? And with every finish line that I've ever had the blessing of being at when the last person crossed, there was always awe and cheering for the man or woman who had the guts and grit to keep going long after a good majority of runners had grabbed their medals and gone home. This scene played out over the weekend when 35-year-old Tom Durnin crossed the finish line of the London Marathon in eight hours, 10 minutes and 58 minutes. The crowd went absolutely wild! The race directors described the finish as "one of the greatest moments" in London Marathon history and later tweeted: "We're in awe of your determination to finish what you started." Do you just love that or what? His finish was all the more inspiring when he shared the events that nearly kept him from the start line. Mr Durnin, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, revealed he had a car crash in December that severely limited his training.The 35-year-old suffered a bleed on the brain and a broken arm in the crash but still managed to finish the race. Mr Durnin told the BBC he had not been able to do any training until March because of the car accident. "The furthest I'd run up until [Sunday] was 10k so I went well into the unknown," he said.
Tom then went on to describe some of what happened along his 26.2 mile journey, "At mile 10 my ankle gave way and my foot and then my knee, and then at mile 16 my other knee went so I was just ploughing through... on jelly babies and Lucozade and everything else that was being handed out along the way." He said giving up "wasn't an option" and he was determined to finish, no matter how long it took, so he could raise money for the Bone Cancer Research Trust. "One of the hardest parts was when I got to mile 23 and for some reason I thought a marathon was 24 miles... that's when a lot wind comes out of me because you're prepared to finish," he added. Despite the pain, Mr Durnin said he wanted to run the marathon again next year. Wow right? Can you imagine all the people Tom inspired? But guess what? Nearly anyone with the same spirit and determination that says "giving up isn't an option" can complete a marathon or a half marathon.
Now let's move on to the next excuse... I'm too slow. So what's wrong with being slow? As someone who's had the blessing of being close to the front of the pack, at the back of the pack and everywhere in between, I'll tell you what I've learned.... Marathons are like mullets. The party is in the back! I'm not even kidding. And if you're worried about not making cutoff, consider that many races (more all the time) have very generous cutoffs. Most even allow for the runners to finish at their own risk if the course has to be reopened to allow for traffic to resume. The Bass Pro Marathon/Half is just one of those races. This is what their official page had to say about their course time limit, "Cohick Half Marathon, Conservation Marathon & Conservation Marathon Relay presented by Fleet Feet courses are open for approximately 6.5 hours. This is NOT A CLOSED COURSE so if your pace is over a 15 minute mile, you may continue but will be asked to move to the sidewalks and follow all traffic laws."
So there you have it friends. Being slow or fearing being last are not valid excuses for not checking that marathon or half marathon off your bucket list. And neither is not having a training partner or training plan. Official 2023 Bass Pro Fitness Training will begin in July in both the Springfield and St. Robert areas. There's no cost for participating either which means there's no reason not to make 2023 the year you accomplish your goal. Hope to see you out there! Happy Running!
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