Un-freaking-believable

Martin Parnell...ordinary man woke up one day in 2009 and said "I'm going to run 365 marathons next year". His friends and family called him crazy, but he was determined. He wanted to raise $250,000 for Right to Play, a children's charity that promotes healthy lifestyles through sport, but not just by tossing a ball out, but by educating the kids about sport and good health, etc. His doctor talked him down to 5 marathons a week, and sure enough, January 1st, 2010, he ran the first of 228 to date. Even with injuries, he has managed to run TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT MARATHONS to date. Today's run was accomplished by repeating the same 100m stretch of clean sidewalk FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO TIMES!!! All this to raise $250,000, of which he's about 60% of the way there (just under $100K to go) for children. Wow...that is determination. Kind of makes me rethink my "I'm too stressed and tired to work out" whine of earlier.

Some of his marathons are organized...I saw him run Calgary in May, and he's off to Vegas this weekend for the marathon there, but most are just repeats and loops around the river, out in Cochrane (where he lives), downtown Calgary, etc. I think I am going to figure out how to take the 31st of December off and join him on the last run of the year...#250. It's in the morning, in Cochrane and should be an awesome event to join up with.

If you can help out in any way, please follow the link to his blog and make a donation. And spread the word! We may think he's crazy, but he is some dedicated to his cause!! An inspiration to us all.

Later,