Chasing— Always Chasing.

Chasing— Always Chasing



The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.- Laozi


    What am I after now? I've done a few things in life haven't I? Thirty-six marathon finishes tops the list of accomplishments for me. To be clear, this isn't me trying to create a classic one-upper with announcing my marathon finishes. There are tens of thousands of people with multiple marathon finishes and likely way faster than mine. Of course, the actual amount of people to have finished more than thirty marathons is virtually impossible to find but I alone know five people to have completed more than fifty. Then there is my ten year journey of writing a book. It took a long time to start and just as long to finish but it's done nonetheless. I earned my college degree in my thirties and as a father, that's not nothing, right? That was purposeful bad grammar, relax. I've stacked up about ten different certifications and/or designations. Now what?

    That has been the question asked after every single thing that I do. My running journey began with a simple run, in a simple park in Washington Heights in Northern Manhattan. It was Fort Tryon Park for all those on the edge of their collective seats waiting with bated breath. I ran for no reason other than an uncontrollable urge to go and run. When I finished the run I asked myself, now what? So I ran again and again. Then what? I discovered the New York Road Runners (NYRR) and their menu of weekly races. So I raced all of the time. Then I figured if I lived in New York, and I was a runner, then I am a New York runner and New York runners run the New York City Marathon don't they?

    So I ran it. I ran the New York City Marathon a number of times. Then I ran other marathons. When I hit forty, like so many other men, I went into crisis and decided that Twelve Marathons in Twelve Months was a good idea. Now what? 

    I continued to go after this thing and that thing because I had to chase something. The fortuitous and unfortunate thing about this beautiful sport of running is that there is always something to chase. There are PR's, longer races, bucket list races, cool races, obstacle course races, destination races, World Marathon Majors, I mean the list can go on and on. Why not run 2025 miles in the year 2025? There will always be something to do that has yet to be done. There will always be some thing, that you haven't done. In the words of John F. Kennedy, we do "... things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

    Many of the runners I know love to challenge themselves. I love to challenge myself. But I also have this internal fire that makes me want to chase something. Some goal, some race, or some random accomplishment that will matter to very few but give some momentary satisfaction to me. It doesn't last for long but even a moment is worth the effort. 



    While we all sit here with the buffering wait time for the New York City Marathon we all know what's next. It's the next marathon. What happens after that? Now what?

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