Growing Up Over 26.2: Finding the Best in Yourself and in Others

In the winter of 2007 at the age of 23, I began to train for Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon with TEAM in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Shortly after training began, a biweekly magazine known as CiN Weekly put out a call for marathon trainers to blog about their training and experience on the magazine’s website, and subsequently in a few of the print editions. I, along with three other trainees, was selected from the dozens of applicants to log my journey twice a week. To my growing surprise, my blog posts were far more popular than I had assumed they would ever be, landing many followers, shares, donations, free medical treatment, and additional appearances on local media. At the blog’s conclusion, a number of people told me that I should compile my posts into a book and publish it. I took it as a generous compliment, but never took it seriously. Why would anyone care about my marathon experience? First of all, I’m no trainer or nutritionist, nor have I completed countless marathons, so why should any of my advice be valid? Second, I don’t have a narratively-dramatic, terminal illness like cancer or HIV, nor was I a highly-sought after minority with a voice or cause that needed to be heard. I’m a white, middle-class, Midwest guy with knee problems and asthma: nothing headline-snatching. After eight years of reflection though, I came to a realization: It’s worthy of publishing; and it’s worthy of publishing for these three reasons: First, the “every person” story needs to be told. The great majority of marathon runners aren’t ultra-marathoners, professional athletes, nutritionists, nor do they have a particular affliction or personal cause that inspires their run. They’re the everyday folks you see in the office, walking along the sidewalk, bounding along on the elliptical at the gym, working the checkout at your neighborhood grocery, or sitting in gridlock traffic. They’re not superheros; they’re you and me. And their “normalcy” doesn’t cheapen their stories at all; they’re just as important.