No matter who you are, when you decide to run a marathon, you have a reason. Whether it be to raise money for a charity or to mark a new chapter in your life or prove something to yourself or to lose a few pounds, everyone has a reason. My reason for training is sentimental. You see, my grandmother passed away this past May. When I went home for her funeral, I was distraught and sad. I missed her terribly. I decided that I wanted to do something, anything, to show just how much I loved her and just how much her life meant to me. I'm not a lyricist so I knew I wouldn't be writing a song and I'm not a poet so no sonnets were going to be written. I wouldn't be expressing myself creatively so what would I do? Well, what do I do? I run! Not well but I do it. And then I knew what I would do, what I had to do! Before I left West Virginia to return home to Utah, I said out loud, "I'm going to run a marathon in memory of Maw Maw sometime in the next year." I said it and wasn't even sure if I believed it. Pretty sure that no one I said it to believed it but I said it and that was a BIG first step.
I didn't think much of it for a couple of months until the opportunity to train for the half-marathon presented itself. "Could I?" I thought. "Would this be my first step towards the big one?" While training for the half, I searched and searched for the perfect full marathon. I wanted to find one that was on a Saturday (I don't run on Sundays) and was close by. I even prayed that I would know the right one when I found it. Imagine my surprise when I found a little marathon called Running From an Angel Marathon in Boulder City, NV and it was on my grandmother's birthday, of all days! I knew then that this marathon was the one. And I know that she will be the angel that will be running with me every step of the way. I look forward to honoring her in my own way that day and all those training days up to the day of the race. I'm running a marathon because my love for my grandmother is too big to express with words. She is my inspiration.
