Motivation and Running

Not being someone who is particularly sentimental I was surprised to find myself so moved and motivated by all the friends, family and spectators that came out to cheer the Portland Marathon runners on.

Running for 26.2 miles (meaning somewhere between 3 and 5+ hours for non-superhuman runners) can get boring real quickly. I found myself passing some of the time by taking note of all the various signs that people made…’run, mommy, run’, ‘who needs toenails?’, ‘I’m attracted to runners’, ‘hey stranger, you rock’, etc…and then seeing the people attached to the signs who got up and out so early to cheer us on was really inspiring. Especially since they did all of this knowing that their runner would only see them for a fleeting moment as they whizzed or limped by.

It was admittedly a great feeling and boost to my momentum to see familiar faces on the sidelines. To have a point where I knew someone would be waiting just to show their support of this crazy thing I had gotten myself into was just the motivation I needed to keep going (and to also make sure I didn’t look like a total wimp). Having a friend I run with who was participating in a different marathon the following weekend, so was sitting this one out show up unexpectedly at a few different points was an awesome surprise as well. She could have definitely opted to sleep in and stay warm knowing she would be subjected to this craziness soon enough.

The biggest boost came from a friend who despite being at a bachelor party the night before made it bright and early to cheer me on at mile 9 and then hop in his car and meet me again at mile 20 and then run alongside me to the finish.  I really couldn’t believe that someone would be willing to do this and up until the day of the marathon I had been urging him to just sleep in and not worry about showing up. Man, am I glad he didn’t listen to me and I bet that all the other runners were so glad that their friends and family and everyone else’s friends and family made it out to cheer us on too. It truly made all the difference and the next time someone I know is doing something as challenging and crazy as a marathon I am getting out the magic markers and puffy paint and going to town.

~Dominee Cagle, Spa Director at PDX