From Start to Finish

We’re about to start our third week of half marathon training for Gilda’s Gang. As always, I’m encouraged, motivated, and inspired by the people who make up our little Gang. From experienced marathon runners to first-time marathon walkers, our group truly includes people of all sizes, shapes, and abilities. There are plenty of race-training groups out there, but I really think ours is unique in that we are focused on camaraderie, companionship, and getting everyone safely across the finish line. It’s not about heart rates or pace or weight loss or setting records – except personal ones.

2013

The other day, I was reading Ragen Chastain’s blog, where she’s been talking a lot about training for her second marathon. And she said something that really struck me: “a marathon is a distance, not a time.” I love it when someone expresses something so simply and perfectly that you have believed in yet haven’t quite been able to articulate. She really nails this for me. The marathon – or, in my case, the half marathon – is a distance. As in, “go this distance and you’ve completed a half marathon.” Not “go this distance in this amount of time and you’ve completed a half marathon.”

8022099434_a6dd0aaf69_z

There are some people who think that you shouldn’t be allowed in a marathon if you aren’t a runner. There are some people who think that you shouldn’t be allowed in a marathon if you aren’t someone who runs fast enough (and guess who gets to decide what ‘fast enough’ is? Hint: not you!). They think that allowing slow people to race somehow diminishes the accomplishments of the fast people. I’m of the mind that if you want to lace up your trainers and walk or run or walk/run or run/walk or jog or shuffle or skip or do handsprings for 13.1 or 26.2 miles, then more power to you. I’ll see you at the start line (and, hopefully, at the finish line).

6159990054_5e24cd09b0_z

My goals and your goals, my accomplishments and your accomplishments, my marathon and your marathon are not at odds with each other. There is room enough for all of us to complete that distance.

Gilda Radner once said:

The same way people in gangs can do things that the individual could never do alone, the gang of us fighting cancer makes us all stronger.

That’s the guiding spirit behind Gilda’s Gang. Together, we can accomplish amazing things. Together, we can go the distance – no matter the time.

Back to Top
%d bloggers like this: