Thursday, October 07, 2010

Marathon Motivation, Expo and Charity Luncheon



Above is a preview for the documentary, 'Spirit of the Marathon.' It followed 6 people training for the Chicago Marathon in 2006 - two elite athletes, two experienced marathoners, and two first time marathoners. It is great motivation, so I made sure to watch it earlier this week.

Yesterday [Friday], Kim S, Maggie and I went to the Marathon Expo at McCormick Place. The Expo is an event within itself. Nine rows of everything you could ever want or need was available. We met Kim A. and Sara there. We found our names on the 'We Are All Marathoners' wall along side the Nike booth. After spending some time walking the isles, picking up our packets, and buying some 10.10.10 gear, we headed home.

Friday evening was a 10:30 pace group dinner in Andersonville. We had 38 people in our party, which essentially took over the entire bar area of the restaurant. We had a good pre-race carb load and all got to bed early.

Today I headed down to McCormick Place again - this time to attend a luncheon held by my charity, Salute Inc. It was a great event. We met soldiers the charity has been able to help over their seven year existence. The charity continues to grow, and this year has 110 runners as part of their Marathon Team. These 110 runners raised a total of $80,000, which is absolutely amazing. Again, I thank everyone who donated this year.

It's the stories I heard today that I'll take with me tomorrow morning as I stand in the corral waiting to start the race. It is amazing how doing something so simple as volunteering to fundraise for a charity while training for a marathon can be so rewarding. My training is different, for certain better, than in years past, due to this.

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