My friend the marathoner...

I spent some last week, talking with a marathoner. We weren't at a local running event, or even in a running store. Our paths had crossed at a work function where neither of our jobs have anything at all to do with running. How we got onto the topic of running, I can't quite recall, but I'm sure glad we did.

I was awestruck to learn that my new friend was in fact a marathoner and plans to take on the the Athens Marathon in Greece next April. He must have seen the admiration in my eyes as he told me more about his plans and how he was training to meet his goals.

But I was more impressed with the sincere interest he showed in my running career and the questions he asked of me about how I had gotten to my first starting line a couple of years ago. He asked me about my training, my diet and my inspiration. As we talked, I began to realize that it's true that the only thing that makes a runner a runner is that he goes out and he runs.

I'm not a fast runner, he is. I'm not built like a runner, he is. I have never run a marathon, he has. But one thing we do share, is a few times a week, in all kinds of weather and at different times of the day, we go out and we run, one foot-strike after another. To paraphrase The Penguin, John Bingham, when it comes to running, it matters not where you finish, but instead, whether or not you start.

Don't be afraid that you can't do it, be afraid that you won't.