My Work is Done Here

May 13, 2014 by Greg Fowler

It has been six months since I last posted. Work, home life and some new interests have really done a number on my running motivation and time for writing. I had pretty much made up my mind to let the blog fade away, but a couple of loose ends need to be tied.

First, something keeps bugging me. Like many bloggers, I use a platform called WordPress to create my site. WordPress provides a mobile app for editing the site and checking usage statistics. Everytime I check my stats, there’s one number that I see that bugs me. Its the 99 in the graphic to the right.

That 99 is the number of posts I’ve made on the blog. Like many runners, I cannot end a run on a .9, meaning if I’ve run 9.9, then I must go until the watch says 10.0. So, I’ll carry this over to my posts, I’m not going to end on 99. As soon as I post this, it will turn to 100. There, that’s better.

There’s also another reason for one last post. If you’ve followed my blog, you know I didn’t reach my Boston Marathon qualifying goal last year and that’s pretty much where the blog stopped. I didn’t want to drop the blog on a low note. If you’re practicing putts or free throws, you don’t end on a miss. I’ll apply the same rule to blogging.

The Final Story

I’ve been a runner for just over five years. I’ve probably put way too much time, effort and money into it. I’ve run 41 races, including six road marathons and one ultra-marathon. Turns out, I’m just a mediocre runner speed-wise (statistics don’t lie), and I’m OK with that (mostly 🙂 ). The best outcome from my running, though, is not the marathon finishers’ medals or the life lessons about persistence, but it’s the impact running has made on my son.

Five years ago, an eleven year-old boy started following me around the neighborhood during my runs. I’d have to slow down and wait a good bit, but he kept at it. Soon, he could run 5K with me, and we entered a small local race. I figured at age 11, he’d have a chance for an age group medal and perhaps get hooked. That whole positive reinforcement thing. Well, that actually worked. He won his age group that day and kept it up. He started high school cross country in 7th grade and now cycles and swims, too. He has a better work ethic than I ever did.

Now, after five years, the roles are reversed. He has to slow down and let me catch up when we run together. I’m 100% OK with that. This past weekend, I entered us in another small local race, the Poultry Festival 5K. I figured it was a good chance for him to finally win an overall title, and I might have a chance at an age group victory (I’ve had two in five years!).

Sometimes, things don’t work out the way you planned. Oh, he got his first victory, but something unexpected happened. You see, most races have a Masters division for the over 40 crowd. It never occurred to me that might be an option for me in this race. Wouldn’t you know, though, seconds after they announced my son as overall winner, they announced me as the Masters winner. How about that. Two first victories on the same day. Is my work is done here or is it only beginning?