Friday, July 31, 2015

The Final Forty & the BOP'ers

Earlier this month, while looking for reviews and results of the Cranford Firecracker Four-Miler, I stumbled upon what has become my new favorite running blog: The Final Forty by Jennifer L. Nelson.

Ms. Nelson's story is awesome and inspiring.  To put it briefly, she was overweight and she decided to do something about it, so she started running (and kickboxing and Taekwondo).  Having shed almost 100 pounds, she aims to lose forty more in order to be at her optimum healthy weight.

What makes her story so interesting and humbling to me is that she is a runner for all the right reasons.  

I will be the first to admit that during the past decade, my pursuit has been to get faster and more competitive, pushing for PRs at almost every race, gunning for the medals - age group and, eventually, overall.  Every race became a new struggle with harder work.  Somewhere along the line, I might have lost touch with the reason I started in the first place. 

Jennifer Nelson's blog has reminded me of the reality of what we do as runners and why we do it - we aim to be healthy, fit and happy.  Nothing more is needed to reap the rewards of running than to simply do it.  

The Final Forty also serves as a reminder of the determination of the back-of-packers.  If you think they have it easier because they are running slower, think again.  I finish a 5K in 19 minutes and am already cooling down, drinking water and chowing on a banana while people like Ms. Nelson are just starting the third mile.  

How about marathons?  I can do a 20-miler on a Sunday and still have most of my day ahead of me.  BOP'ers are out there for several hours, toughing it out.  I can not imagine running for five hours on hot days like we have been having here in New Jersey.  Yet they do it.  With pride. 

This is why, whenever possible, I try to stay at the finish line at all of my races and cheer for everyone else, right down to the last runner.  The struggle of the person finishing in 35 minutes is no different than the struggle of those who finish at the front.  We are all there for the same reason.  We are all runners and we all deserve to congratulate each other on our efforts, because only we really know what it takes. 


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