Running From Start To Finish

The title for this article, “Running From Start To Finish” means a lot to me. When I got started in running, the book by the same title as written by John Stanton, was a staple for me as I went from a couch potato to a runner by following along with John’s tips and the Running Room training schedules. It got me through my first half marathon back in 2006 and then my first marathon, in Ottawa, in May of 2007. Since then I have run 23 more marathons plus countless half marathons, 30, 10 and 5k races. Many times thoughts from that book pop into my head reminding me to never forget the basics. If you do not have this book around the house, I suggest you pick one up and let your child have a peak at it from time to time.

Writing these articles has reminded me of the time when I was not a runner, and not in overly impressed that our eldest son, Josh, had decided to join the Cross Country team at school. Until then, my wife and I had encouraged him to play hockey and soccer and he became a relatively competitive athlete in those sports so it was no surprise that he excelled at running as well.

This was about 8 years ago and I do look back with regret that I didn’t support him as much as I did with other sports. Little did I know I was  missing out by not going to all of his XC events thinking it was too much to travel across the city for a race that lasted only 20 minutes. I did make it to one race and was enlightened by how many kids were there, from all ages in all high school grades. After that I was looking forward to more events but unfortunately Josh turned his ankle over quite badly and didn’t get back into running again until just recently at the age of 22 (This is still a youth to me!).

With our next 2 children, we were much more supportive of their adventures of getting into running. I will share with you those stories another time. For now, I have a challenge for the moms, dads and kids out there. I hope you’re all up for it!

The Challenge: Are you a runner, or do you have a child that runs? I am looking to gather some stories for a future article. Whether your child is either just getting into running or really into the sport, either for recreation or competition, I’d love it if you could have them write about how they got started, why they like running and what their future running goals are. And for the adults out there, if you ran in your youth, I’d like to hear form you too. There is no minimum or maximum length for the stories but if it is a child, it should be in their own words and include their age and hometown. Adults, you can leave out the age part if you wish but do note what age you were when you ran as a youth. Some entries may be edited for space purposes.

Optional: Include a photo, stationary or on the run for inclusion on this blog.

There is no prize for how fast your child is but there are some fabulous iRun apparel prizes for the ones chosen for inclusion here. (Prizes will be determined shortly)

Email stories and photos to dave@beachesrunner.com

I look forward to the submissions!

Vive les enfants!

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Your voice counts as well – If you have any questions or topics you’d like to see addressed please leave a comment or email me at dave @ beachesrunner . com