Why you should run a Marathon in 2025.
Life is short, go the distance. (Vol. 4, No. 3)
Running is Natural. Running the Marathon is not normal.
The human spirit is not meant to be constrained against it’s natural ability and desire to feel accomplishment and achieve success by doing hard and difficult things. Running the Marathon is hard, it is difficult and if you’re reading this, it may seem as impossible a distance to run as qualifying for Boston seems near impossible for me. I understand your trepidation of even considering such a feat.
You can do hard things.
The difficult things in life are unavoidable, you will face hardship. You will be faced with immense struggles of the heart, mind and soul. I tell you, The Marathon will build emotional resiliency that can provide you with the fortitude to handle these hardships and continue living a full life filled with love, fun and excitement and joy.
Running a Marathon is more than just running really far.
You should run a Marathon in 2025 because……………
It requires commitment to a plan and adherence in the face of adversity.
Magic is real and it happens during the 16-20 week buildup to the race.
You are capable of accomplishing great things through hard work fueled by discipline.
The running community is amazing and you’ll possibly make great friends in the process during training or at the race.
Growth comes from hardship, stress, pain, suffering and discipline. You’ll learn that comfort is a lie and with tenacity you can outgrow your weakness.
You must do the work. There are no cheat-codes, work arounds or short cuts. Chat GPT can’t get you a 4-hr Marathon. It takes individual effort and personal accountability. Excuses are your excuses and yours alone.
Your Success is a reflection of Your Dedication to the process and training. Your finish line emotions are hard earned and joyous.
You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment and can forever call yourself a Marathoner.
Emotional Resiliency and Intestinal Fortitude can be created and bolstered.
In your 16 to 20 week Marathon Build leading to your race you will have great highs and unexpected lows. The Marathon owes you nothing and demands from you everything. During the hundreds of miles during training you will question your existence and decision making abilities, precisely why you signed up for a Marathon. You’ll have great runs where you feel light as a feather and sufferable runs where every step is a struggle. Each of these builds character and emotional resiliency, allowing you to handle the stressors of life just a little bit better.
Strength is a measurement of the mechanics and capabilities of the body. Toughness is derived from within and is directly associated with your tolerance of physical pain, emotional instability and mental fragility. The Marathon will make your body stronger and your toughness durable and unyielding.
Life is short, fragile and a precious gift. You only get one shot at it, go big.
You’ve got one shot at this life, make it a good one. Running the Marathon can provide you with an amazing sense of accomplishment, boost your self confidence and possibly change your mindset on what is possible.
One of the many reasons I run as often as I do is because I have so many friends who are Combat Veterans who physically can’t run. They sacrificed their bodies in service for our country; I run because they can’t.
You should run a Marathon in 2025 precisely because it is so difficult.
When you started reading this post you might have thought I was going to say you should run a Marathon because it’s so much fun and you get to eat so much and you’ll get fit and feel strong and sexy. All of those things are likely to happen, but you’ve got to earn each and every one of those. Only through discipline, determination, tenacity and consistency of action will those become your reality.
Running The Marathon is only one day of your life. In the big screen picture of your life, it is but a mere pixel. It is in the training for that singular day where the growth takes place. It is the proceeding 100 days (avg) of dedication that makes the difference.
Running with friends is better. Training with friends is better.
I’m lucky and blessed to have found an incredible Run Club full of amazing people who are positive, supportive and always willing to help you achieve a big goal. Without Clayton Area Runners and the friends I’ve made there, completing both of my Marathons would be near impossible. I highly encourage you to find a local running club or online community that will provide support in this great adventure. Everything from providing personal insights, cheering you on and giving kudos when things get tough.
Your survival rate exponentially increases when you have a friend with you.
This was the advice my friend gave me when I was flying all over Afghanistan and I was discussing the realities of being shot down and captured by the enemy. He literally told me: “Don’t get captured alone. Take someone with you. It’s better if you suffer with someone instead of alone! Survival rates go up!”
This same principal applies to training for The Marathon. Grab a friend and train together. Train together often and especially during those weekend long runs. Your success rate for completing the Marathon at your goal time, injury free exponentially increases when you train with a friend.
If you’ve read this far and you’ve never done a Marathon before, then let this be the catalyst that propels you to signing up for one! Make the commitment, prepare and plan, recruit a friend then take action and be consistent.
Find your first Marathon at Running in the USA.
Need a Running Coach who cares about your success. I highly recommend Coach Amy Brown at Run With Your Heart.
Thank you for reading The Long Run! I really appreciate all of you and look forward to your comments and messages about this post. Got questions? Shoot me a DM through the new DM Substack Feature.