Why Do I Do This?

29 Days till I leave. 32 Days till the Race.

People have asked me how I found this race and to tell you the truth, I have no idea. I thought it might prepare me for a real event. What you may ask? I'd like to run 100 miles so breaking it up over a couple of days would be an easy thing or so I hope.

Andre asked, "why do you do these races all over the world when you can do them at home." Hey that's the idea. I want to see the world and explore it. My goal is to do a race in every continent. I have Europe, South America, America, and now Asia. I'm not too far off.

I've found that as I'm getting older and have accomplished more, I'd like to see how far I can push. 11 years ago, I got bored of going to the gym without a purpose. Hey, we all want to get in shape, but what for. That is when I decided I'd train to run a marathon.

I stood on the line for hours in NYC for hopes that I'd get in the lottery. Nowadays, you can do a few races and qualify, but back then it was very hard. I was crushed when I found out I didn't get in, but I was sent a race flyer for a 50k race. Yes, that 31 miles.

So there I was with an entry in my hand. I thought it was like an invitation. NYC marathon didn't want me, but they did so I had to go. When I got there, people didn't believe that it was my first 'ultramarathon' and that I had only run 13 miles to that point. I proved to them that it could be done and finished in a respectable place.

There I was hooked. I quickly found myself signing up for more and more events. Hey, nowadays everyone runs marathons. Ultrarunning is very special. People take the time out to talk with you and get to know you. Sometimes, they will shout words of encouragement. It is a small community. Many of them have been doing this for over 30 years and they have great running stories.

I hope that on this trip that I will again meet people from all over the world and be able to share some stories.