but is it such a big deal? will i have a sense of "is that all there is?" once (and it is inevitable folks, mark my word!) i achieve it?
qualifying for the boston marathon has a mythical aura about it within north american running culture that i'm not sure can be explained. for sure there's the impulse for me to strive to be among the 10% or so of all marathoners on the continent who are able to qualify for this race (especially significant when you consider that less than 1% of the population ever completes a marathon). and then given that it's one of the world marathon majors - to be able to say that i competed in one of the world's elite athletic competitions, well that crosses one item off of my bucket list.
but accomplishing and following through on a BQ certainly finish the list of running goals for me. at the very least, i have committed to a friend in south africa to complete the comrades marathon with him - the world's oldest and largest ultramarathon. depending on who you reference, it's 87-90km of roadrunning between pietermaritzburg and durban. just the opportunity to visit south africa is a dream in and of itself - but to run the comrades will probably be the motivation that i will need to get there.
what are your running goals (big or small)? share them here - i'd love to know about them and cheer you on.
I don't have specific goals this year, although if I had a support crew and a month of free time I'd love to run the Ganaraska Trail end-to-end.
ReplyDeleteI also want to do the Paris-Ancaster bike race, especially if I can convince anyone else to come and join me.