THE REASON

I want to run my next marathon to beat a certain time. Why do you want to run a marathon? Everyone has different reasons, and trust me, if you are going to finish the marathon, particularly if it is your first marathon, then you will need a reason. You will need some sort of motivation to keep you going through all those hard days of training. Particularly the cold rainy days. So just in case you don’t have a reason yet…here are a few that might “fit”.

1. I think my first motivation for running a marathon was to prove to myself I could accomplish something. A marathon is something a lot of people can’t or won’t do. The main reason people don’t do it: IT’S NOT EASY! You have to dedicate literally months of your life to this goal. You have to change the way you eat, change your daily schedule, and even change the way you think. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, it is going to take some money to successfully cross the finish line.

But remember this, when you cross the finish line it will all be worth it. All those long days of training, all of the ice you went through to take care of those shin splints, all of those days of running in the sweltering heat, all of those blisters, all of those early morning runs before work/school, and all of the blood, sweat, and tears will all be worth it. I promise. The reason why it will be worth it is because you can now join the ranks of people who have run for 26.2 miles straight. Did you hear that? ...26.2 miles STRAIGHT! And just so you know, when you are standing in a crowd…you will be one of the few that can say that you have done this! (Unless of course you are standing at the starting line of the Boston Marathon.) You will be able to tell your friends and family that you ran a marathon…It wasn’t easy…but you DID IT!

2. Another reason kind of takes after the “Happiness is a journey, not a destination” approach; which is to get in shape or lose some weight. You will accomplish this goal while you train for the marathon. Think about it…it’s basically impossible to run every day for 3, 6, 9, or even 12 months and not lose some weight. It doesn’t matter how skinny you are right now.

So if you want to lose that freshman 15, or that spare tire you just got since you started that new job where you sit in a cubicle all day and stare at a computer, then training for and running a marathon is a great thing to do.

When we do something for 30 days it becomes a habit. What if you want to get in shape and stay that way? Training for a marathon will develop that habit of working out, and even after the marathon is over, you will feel weird if you don’t go out and run for a day because you will be so used to running. So if losing weight and getting is shape is your reason…. it’s a good one.

Those are a couple of reasons to run a marathon. If you don’t have one right now, just pick one of mine…it will help you stay motivated throughout your training.


I am curious to know why other people are running marathons. Leave a post and let me know “YOUR REASON” for running a marathon.

Happy Running.

The Marathon Professor