“Running has changed who I am and what I think I’m capable of.”

My journey into distance running came from a pretty simple conversation with a friend that essentially went, “You should run this race and run a marathon,” and I said, “ok.”

As a father of four and an owner/operator of two different businesses, I’m sure I can make room for one more thing, LIKE TRAINING FOR MARATHON! It’s amazing what you’ll do with a friend and a little prodding.

So, like most folks, I’m sure, I bought new shoes, downloaded an app, and off I went. We’ll skip past the mornings of “why did I do this” and the moments of “I don’t think I can do this,” as there were many. What kept me going was measured progress and support. I could feel the improvement in my runs, and my running app validated the progress. The runs gradually became longer, and I discovered that “conversational pace” was a real thing; I really didn’t think one could talk and run at the same time.

My friends tracked my runs and continually expressed encouragement. Honestly, tracking their runs and trying to keep up with them held me more accountable than anything. At some point, I realized I enjoyed running. My kids would run a few of the miles with me, anywhere from .01 miles to 1.5 of them anyway. Mostly, they would ride their bikes while I ran and tell me how slow I was, motivating for sure, and I loved it. My wife continually encouraged me, purchased all the essential running gear according to the magazines, and told me numerous times she had no interest in joining me on the runs. I just kept going. I signed up for races, I told everyone I knew I was training for a marathon, and I held myself accountable to something I never imagined myself doing.

A conversation with a simple statement, “You should run this race and run a marathon,” has changed who I am and what I think I’m capable of. Sounds corny, I know, but for a guy who, prior to all this, logged his longest run at 5 miles and now does more than that on a Tuesday, it’s something I’m proud of and truly thankful for. For the record, the “this race” was the Knoxville Expo 5K in May 2025 (first ever race), the marathon was the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in Nov 2025, and the friend I’ll love and appreciate forever.

Also, another recent conversation with the same friend: “You should do a triathlon with me.” I said, “ok.”