Marathons are my new favorite thing

This weekend my family (sans littlest sister) drove down to Nashville, TN so my dad could run in the Country Music Marathon with his running group, my cousin Joel and aunt Nancy (who also competes in Iron Man competitions). I have never been to a marathon before but I have to say that I was thoroughly inspired. Not only did we meet interesting people from all over the world (including Mara from Romania), but we were also given the opportunity to see ordinary people doing something extraordinary. My perception of marathons has always been of uber-competitive, ectomorphic athletes that were somehow elite and superhuman. What I saw in Nashville was far from that (other than the superhuman part).

Among the most memorable of the athletes was a blind man who ran the entire 26.22 miles with a guide. Another was a WWII vet and another ran while pushing his disabled adult son before him in a wheelchair. There was a man who ran in a pink t-shirt that read "My wife's fight is my fight." Each of them took my breath away.

Also inspiring were the average people, with normal BMIs, that struggled their way to the finish line. I left feeling that I could do anything. It was a wonderful weekend. (I also got to see the Grand Ol' Opry and listen to a lanky, cowboy-hatted, crooner play guitar in a honky tonk.) So now I'm thinking of trying to train for a 1/2 marathon and I wanted to share with you some of the resources I've discovered for Michigan runners. Maybe I'll see you out there someday!

Michigan Sport and Fitness: A great magazine available for free throughout Michigan. They also have a very helpful website.

Run Michigan: Has a comprehensive list of Michigan running events.

Michigan Runner: A community of runners.

Team in Training MI: In exchange for training and support, runners raise money to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and their mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.


Pictured above is my dad (in orange) as he rounds his 11th mile.