Race 20: University of Illinois Marathon Champaign

This recent weekend started out full of promise, it was a warm evening about 3/4 weeks earlier that I met with David for dinner in Sydney a good friend from Chicago, when I think I was talking about my LA marathon, before you know it one thing led to another and since I had planned to be in the US over Easter, this must have been that really bad bottle of red we enjoyed, but it seemed like a good idea to get into the marathon down at the university of Illinois.

The lead up to this period seen me work for five weeks straight travelling, United States, Sydney, New Zealand, and in general being very much on the road, a past time I have not had to do in quiet some time and really can live without.

So needless to say prep was not great, in any case as I landed in Chicago, and arriving at the day David picks me up from the hotel in downtown Chicago and we head for the two hour drive south to Champaign the adventure begins!.

Here is the team:

Josh - Truly the superstar of the team, Josh is an amazing runner at 9 years old, doing his very first 10km run, Josh came in at an amazing first place in 1hr 10m, I get so excited when people break a personal best, and this kid deserved all the high fives he could get - truly hope he soaks up the credit he deserves and makes the most of the next few weeks, lets see if he does another or breaks the half marathon distance! with his natural talent!










David - Totally smashed my time in this marathon when he was not even ready for it, way to go David - this was an amazing feat for a weekend and a guy who travels way more than me. David is going to break the 3:30 Marathon barrier and grab that Boston Qualifier he so richly deserves, it’s a tall order but some thing that I am confident he can break! - so confident I am going to challenge David that if he trains for it, than so will I...... although my qualifier is 3hr and 10m Crikey!!!.









Daniel - The guy who is new to running, he knocked over 50 miles in the preceding week training, hmmmm I’m not so sure. This guy is an absolute natural, blowing all of us out of the water this weekend, he glided through this course with relative ease, he has some natural talent and something some of us find difficult to get, the ability to just toughen up and smash through the course, a truly competitive nature brings out the best in this runner, congratulations go to Daniel who came in first in the group!






Matt - our awesome host and David’s son, Matt was great showing us around town, introducing us to the bars and places in this great university town and nice enough to put me us up in his senior house..... a great guy - people like all four of these guys are very rare to come by in this day and age and really nice people.





Oh and than we come to me, who managed to finish the marathon, I had no excuse apart from the muscles in my legs giving out, and my lack of consistent running in the past 5 weeks. I came in last in the group, however I am very pleased I finished, my favorite saying came into play this weekend, a quote from Dean Karnases, "Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up!" yes I said this over and over and over again.





The course this weekend was not full of landmarks or call out places, it was the people and spirit that made this weekend special, a energy that you must have!, I did a respectable 10k, 13.1m but it went down hill from here, and I think from this point I wont even bother to recall the last 13.1 miles of pure hell! - enough said!

Every Marathon I take on teaches me a new lesson in life, and when you least expect it you are handed some of the most valuable lessons....... this weekend was one of those lessons.......... the tough thing for many is to recognize the lesson and grab it with both hands than run with it!

Now its no news to anyone that my life has seen a significant shift in the last two and a half years, i've had more change than some people have in an entire life time.

What a lot of people don't know is at the start of this change I started the biggest battle of my life, on a number of fronts, and this journey continues today, the journey must have an end, but for the moment I’m only half way there - and a lot of hard work is required to return to the life I once enjoyed – but for me this life will be like we all should live, to enjoy every moment like we have no tomorrow.

Running for me is the solution to this journey.

This weekend, I realized that people do exist in the world that have no desire to bring you ill fate, that even when things don’t go to plan, and your down and out you wont get kicked at the same time, hey its not the end of the world.

The thing I’m missing right at the moment is the return of my competitive nature, now anyone who was slightly close to me in business knew that I was indeed a competitive person, and I played to win all the time, and second was never good enough.

Dan, David and Josh all showed me that competitive nature weather it be against yourself seeking that elusive personal best, or against your brother, son or friend.

I’m glad I got this lesson because as I left this weekend, the worst marathon time, actually 2nd worst time ever, I have the start of my competitive spirit back!

I am starting the journey to Boston, that’s right inspired by David and Daniel from this last weekend, and the can do attitude they posses, I’m setting myself this goal.

I have let my current trainer go, and will search for a new one, someone that has my way of thinking in mind and can push me hard with this essential can do attitude and positive nature, that even if they think I cant crack that 3hr 10m time they will push me like there is no tomorrow so we will get as close as humanly possible.

I have just received confirmation of my entry to the October Chicago marathon and will make this the target, If I’m going to qualify this is the event. 5 Months …… and counting down.

In many ways the worst marathon weekend on the calendar so far, yet so many rich lessons learnt!

A great weekend!

The training for my Chicago 3hr and 10m marathon start!

Cheers
Jeff