I remember my first marathon four years ago. I had trained for an entire year, lost 65 pounds and hit the wall at 18 miles. I finished with my entire family cheering me on and sat around thinking about how hard I worked and how proud I was to accomplish something big!!!

Last year, my wife surprised me with a great gift. The first part involved entry into the 2010 Walt Disney World Marathon. The second part was that my sister, Kirsten, was going to run with me. She wasn’t officially a runner but I’m sure she had spent some time on the treadmill before this. What was supposed to be a half marathon turned into a full when I selectively listened to my wife and happened to “not hear” the half and just heard marathon. Not one to back out, she dutifully accepted the challenge.

With some advice from me and I’m sure plenty of advice from her husband Jonathan (who had previously completed a marathon), she set a course to get ready for January 10, 2010.

Her first goal was to run a marathon relay at the Fargo Marathon back in May. Her and the Cobber Chicks kicked some arse and she caught the running bug. Not satisfied with only running 6 1/2 miles, her next step in this journey was the Dick Beardsley 1/2 Marathon in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. She finished in glorious fashion in just under 2:07 and I couldn’t have been more proud!!!

This has set us up to where we are now…four days away from her first marathon!!! I’ve always tried to encourage people to run. I know what kind of difference it’s made in my life and more specifically my health, and if there’s a way I can get one more person to walk out the door and start running, I’ve done my part. Hopefully she’ll be a runner for life – if I have any say about it!!!

The fact that I actually get to run with her is an honor and I know that when we cross that finish line, there will be tears shed. Kirst, I’m so proud of you and I can’t wait to celebrate your first marathon it just 4 days!!!

RMFR

Well, we’re officially 6 days away from the Walt Disney World Marathon. With the Holidays and my recent running rut, it’s really snuck up on me. While training has been going well, it’s just kind of been there. It’s funny looking back. During the weeks leading up to the Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon, all I could do was think and write about that race. Now here we are under a week away and this is basically the first post on this race. Well, ignored no more!!! Let’s get to it!!!

This race has been on the schedule now for more than a year. What started out as a gift from my wife, turned into something WAY more. Accompanying me in this race will be my sister Kirsten – her first marathon!!! It was supposed to have been a half marathon but there was no way I was flying across the country just for a half marathon. The die was cast and the challenged was accepted. My sister would be training and running in her first marathon.

After running the Disneyland Half Marathon now the last three years, I can’t wait to run an entire marathon with Disney. From the overall organization (minus the Expos), the excitement and the Disney atmosphere – this is going to a fun race no matter what happens.

They boast that the course has no more than 100 feet elevation change and with Orlando sitting at 98 feet above sea level, it should be fast (I hope). The only things I’m really concerned about is the humidity, crowds of runners squeezing thru tight sections and being strong supporting my sister. The course winds throughout all four parks with sections on roads surrounding the resort. They’ve also put together some race videos that take you along sections of the course as well as a Google Earth 3D tour (although I can’t get the plugin to work).

The best part about this weekend is that it has become a family event. Not only will my family be joining me, but my sisters entire family as well as my parents will be cheering us on!!! Everybody came out to Las Vegas to support me in my first marathon four years ago and it’s only fitting we all regroup and do the same thing for my lil sis!!!

I’ll be heading out Wednesday and won’t be back to Las Vegas the following Thursday (the wife and I are throwing in a long belated honeymoon – almost 12 years later). No worries about the website though, I’ll have posts scheduled for you all while I’m away.

Mickey…here we come!!!

RMFR

I’ve talked before about inspiring people to run and being inspired by others. Today is one of those days where as a runner, I’m inspired…as a sibling, I couldn’t be more proud!!!

I haven’t relayed the full story yet so here it goes. Last Christmas, my wife and kids paid for my registration for January’s Walt Disney World Marathon. The added bonus was that my sister, Kirsten, was going to start running this year and join me in the race. My wife and sister had come up with the surprise and what wasn’t told to me was that it was supposed to be the 1/2 marathon.

After I registered for the full marathon, I emailed/called (I can’t recall which) my sister and told her I was all registered and excited to run with her. To her surprise I registered for the full marathon and not the 1/2 marathon she was expecting. Since I had already signed up, she cowboy’d up and did the same.

Fast forward to today, my sister just completed her first 1/2 marathon – the Dick Beardsley 1/2 Marathon in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Not only did she finish, but she did great finishing in 2:06:59 (only 4+ minutes off of my time).

Congratulations Kirsten!!! Only 4 months until you’ll finish your first full marathon and I can’t wait to share in the experience!!!

My sister Kirsten (blue) and her friend Liz just got back from an extended weekend in New York City. Of course when she first told me of her trip, my first reaction was “you have to run in Central Park“. I was very excited for them to hear that it was already on their itinerary.

This got me thinking…what other places would you like to go, just to run in a historic or memorable spot?

Would it be Central Park or the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge? How about historic Hopkinton, Hayward Field, London, Berlin or even the Comrades in South Africa? Share your thoughts on your “Dream Running Hotspot.”