Sunday, October 6, 2013

2013 Marine Corps Marathon Race Dedication

Hi Family and Friends,

The Marine Corps Marathon Race Day (Sunday, Oct 27) is coming very soon, and my training continues to go well.  I remain healthy and I completed my final "long run" (21 miles) this weekend. Now I start the tapering process with multiple shorter runs each week while also working to maintain confidence that my training is sufficient for the challenge.   I am excited to run another marathon, and I hope that you will track my progress and even come out to support me and the other runners if you can.

I may have shared with you why I am running MCM this year, but I would like to provide a few more details.  Marathon distance (26.2 miles) is pretty long and one has a significant amount of time to think about a variety of topics while running this far.   It would be hard to run the MCM and not focus on Marines that have impacted one's life personally.   For me, Al Kanshaw and Byron Sheldon are those Marines.

Al Kanshaw (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/NorthJersey/obituary.aspx?n=Aslan-Kanshaw&pid=157755580#sthash.mek6xB3O.dpbs) and I worked together on a number of IT projects at Affinion Group.   Al approached project delivery like a mission.  He was focused, organized, and worked to bring the team together to accomplish any given goal.   I was lucky enough to know Al outside of work as well;  we often spent time together when I was traveling to CT.   Al was a great friend, colleague, and thankfully a Marine.

Byron Sheldon, (http://www.tributes.com/show/Byron-Sidney-Sheldon-95928191) was a long-time family friend and a very proud Marine.  I always caught up with Byron at family get-togethers where he would share his stories.  Byron's stories provided insight into Marine life that I could not imagine.  Many of his memories centered around the world travels and adventures the Marines offered he and his wife Diane.  I felt lucky to know Byron and was impressed with the courage he showed while battling cancer.   

I am happy to run this year in memory of Al and Byron and fully expect that each of these men will help me during the marathon journey. For those interested in tracking me throughout the race, the MCM Website has a number of details, but here is the key information to get you setup:

Sign up to track me and other runners you may know: http://www.xacte.com/templates/mcm/supporter.html
Check out the 26.2 Mile Course map and all the cool things that I will see:http://www.mcmlocator.com/map

Talk to you soon,
-Doug

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