My life, like many of yours, has always been about setting goals and working hard to achieve them, then setting new ones. In running, this started for me with a half marathon, then a full, then a full after which I could actually walk the next day. Once I got to this point I was fully hooked on marathoning and set the next goal for myself - to complete 10 marathons by my 40th birthday. In the fall of 2007 I hit that goal with the Portland Marathon.
Then the craziness began. At my birthday party several people asked what my next goal would be and provided lots of suggestions. Should it be to run a marathon on each of the seven continents? To step up to ultramarathons? Triathlons? Do 10 more by 50?
I jokingly responded to this one, "how about 50 by age 50?" and it stuck.
As I thought about it more, I realized this was what I wanted to do. You see, marathoning for me isn't just about accumulating medals and bib numbers (although that's pretty cool, too). But about lifelong fitness and health and that's what made this goal so appealing. There are few people at races that I admire more than the people I see crossing the line who are in their seventies, eighties and occasionally 90s. That's what I want; to be able to stay fit, healthy and strong for life. And that is why my goal is to complete fifty marathons by my fiftieth birthday.
As I write this, I have completed 17 marathons and am beginning to ramp up the mileage for #18 - the inaugural Santa Rosa Marathon.
Later this year I will finally have the chance to run the New York City Marathon which will be a real thrill.
It's also a goal of mine to not run the same marathon twice. I figure there are so many events to choose from, why not experience as many as possible.
Maybe I'll see you at one of my goal events.
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