Nexus:  Running the New York City Marathon (NYCM) in 2023 was an opportunity I didn’t expect and, honestly, wasn’t ready for in many respects. 

Over the last three years I have shed fifty pounds and started back running a few times a week at the urging for my best friend, Brian Baker.   Our friendship spans five decades reaching back to grade school.  We trained and competed together in High School and on the local road race circuit throughout the beautiful Hudson Valley of upstate New York.  His friendship with Rod began when Brian hosted him for the 1982 Orange Classic 10k, a local race that attracted Elite runners from around the world.  It was through Brian that I was introduced to Rod a few years ago.

The Reason:  Fast forward to September 2023, Rod graciously extended me an invitation to run the 2023 NYCM supporting fundraising efforts for his foundation; Rod Dixon’s KiDSMARATHON.  As a cherry on the cake the 2023 NYCM was celebrating the 40^th anniversary of Rod’s dramatic and iconic duel in Central Park culminating in his historic 1983 victory over Geoff Smith.  Given all this; I was all in.

Prior to joining the team, I knew little of Rod Dixon’s Kid’s Marathon but during my research its basic premise resonated with me. 

While at its surface the program’s stated goal is teaching kids about the life long benefits of good exercise and nutrition, I think it does something much deeper and more life changing.  The kids in Rod’s program learn to set goals, do hard things in their pursuit, and enjoy the success consistent execution brings. 

In retrospect, this would be the theme of my NYCM effort and a reoccurring them in my own endeavors thought out the years.

Race Weekend:  For me, the 2023 NYCM weekend encompassed more than the race itself.

I was extremely fortunate to have spent time with Rod across the gamut of events from official to social to personal.   Those who have spent time with Rod know what an extraordinary this can be.

The state of my training told me completing the marathon distance was going to be a stretch.  But as Rod is often heard to say, “Finishing is winning and winning is finishing”.   With this in mind I was determined to win.

To say the least my race experience was simultaneously exhilarating and excoriating.  In retrospect I wouldn’t change a thing.  The course, the spectators, my fellow participants, the early and persistent cramps, and even my hour-long visit in a medical tent, but most of all…. crossing the finish line.  I had won.

Post-Race:   Following my 2023 NYCM experience I continued my running journey with renewed interest and vigor pausing only briefly to pursue a decades long dream:  bicycling across the United States.  On the 1^st of May I departed Yorktown, VA heading west to Astoria, OR on a 4,351-mile adventure.  I knew the tour would be a mix of hard days, great days, and exciting days intermixed with periods of self-doubt concerning both my commitment to finish and my ability to do so. It was and so much more.  Through the tough times in the saddle underpinning my faith that I would finish were lessons learned during my youth as a prep runner. 

Anything worth achieving will be hard, takes consistent effort, and ultimately reward you with a success you can take pride in.  I completed my journey on 10 July 2024.  I know that there will be a young running in Rod’s program who one day will take the lessons learn there and complete such a journey.  These are the lasting lessons taught in the Kid’s Marathon program.