The beginning of the race went great. I was running at the exact pace I wanted and took in the sights and sounds of the city. Running through the north side of the city I saw plenty of friends and family on the sidelines as I trekked along with a smile on my face. Loud cheers from lots of Mroz's, Katherine, and Justin at mile 6 (getting them warmed up for when Ryan came through), Lindsey and Zach at mile 7, another Lindsay right before mile 8, and I even included a picture with proof I was smiling right around mile 8:

Thanks to my cousins Corey and Melissa who snapped this shot!

A couple miles after this, things got a little tougher as the temperatures rose. I got a boost from Jon around mile 11, and then heading back to downtown the walk a bit run a bit strategy kicked in a bit more, eventually coming into walk a lot, run a bit strategy. I had a nice boost of Adrenaline on the west side of down running by Ann Marie’s house and getting a nice cheer from her and her family when I really needed a kick forward. A few miles later, my parents, brother, and sister-in-law were waiting for me, so that was another big boost since I had to make sure I didn’t look miserable when I saw them. After that I went through some of the more interesting Chicago neighborhoods as cramps and heat started getting the best of me. In Little Italy I saw Rachel who told me to run like the IRS was chasing me – which was good for a well needed laugh! Then I hit up Pilsen which threw a mile and a half long block party with tons of music and streets lined with people. While the mariachi band was pretty sweet, I really enjoyed the person blasting Foo Fighters out of their apartment stereo only assuming that they would go deaf staying in the apartment. After that was Chinatown, which honestly I don’t remember a whole lot of. I do remember my friend Justin surprisingly being down there and yelling at me to go faster when I was walking – once again – needed motivation! Going through miles 23, 24, and 25 I ran into several of my coaches who helped give me a quick pep talk as I walked and ran the final few miles. It was great just having someone to tell me I was doing great and was almost done. Before the race we were given a penny that we were supposed to drop during a difficult moment of the course or a spot of motivation. I dropped mine at the 25.2 mile sign – exactly one mile short of the end. My thought was that there are plenty of times we come close to our goals, but cannot get there. Hopefully someone struggling would see that penny and use it as motivation to get where they needed to go.

The last mile was a breeze, either that or the fact that I just couldn’t feel anything anymore. I proudly ran out the last half mile of the race running through the finish line hard with a series of fist pumps when I finished (which there is no photographic evidence of). I was happy to say I finished strong and had a smile on my face as I picked up my medal, a banana, some water, a bag of snacks, and one of those cool silver blankets.

Afterwards I met up with my family and got big hugs from everyone even though I probably smelled awful! I can now say I am one of the 1% of the people in the world who has ran an entire marathon! Plus – I got my name in the newspaper the next day. My other goal was that I would drag myself into work Monday…and I did. Though that was probably a mistake because I felt awful by the end of the day. By the time I hit today though, everything feels better and I’m still all smiles. 

Thanks for all of the support along the way. I suprassed my fundraising goal, raising $5,655.60 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last I checked, I was #13 of 331 participants in the Illinois chapter - pretty good.

Now the questions is do I dare do it again? We will see...

Last weekend I completed the longest training run of the entire training process - 22 long miles. Looking back on it now, I can say it really was not so bad. I finished, had a smile on my face, and was still walking once I was done. I am confident I will be able to finish the race. At what speed? Not sure, but I know I will finish which is probably the most important thing!

Now training goes into taper mode, which is really just nice and easy running for the last few weeks before the race. It is not necessarily easy, but at least I won't feel like I need to fall asleep at 8 PM because I burned off three days worth of calories in a few hours. 

Just a little bit of more time and hopefully I can look like this at the finish line (except with more sweat and not in a polo...and in Chicago, not Boston!)

Thanks for the continued support, and I will see you all at the finish!

Four weeks from today I will be celebrating running the Chicago Marathon (or I'll be checked in to a local hospital). I'm hoping for the first option, and honestly at this point I have a lot of confidence that I will be able to finish the race in one piece. 

Mileage wise I've run 18 miles in one sitting (or standing...or movement? None of those sound right), and this Saturday I will complete my first 20 mile run. I know I've reached a new training level when the thought of running 20 vs 18 miles really does not phase me a whole lot.

One thing I've learned during this entire training is that you cannot control the weather. If its pouring rain on race day...well it's pouring rain on race day. Yesterday we ran a little over 6 miles in pouring rain. I have some photographic evidence with my teammate Kelly below:

What you can't tell is that even though I'm smiling I'm pretty sure my clothes weigh an extra 5 pounds from soaking up so much water and my shoes had been submerged in ankle deep water multiple times along the way.

Thanks again for everyone's support. Hopefully Saturday goes smoothly and then I can go out and watch some Illini football and relax for the rest of the weekend. 

Feel free to pass this along to any friends and family as well for anyone else that would like to donate or contribute. I'll have more updates as we get closer too!

Well I've reached about the halfway point of training (give or take a few weeks, so let's just say half way for arguments sake). At this point we've hit about 10 miles for our longest training run, and the mileage really starts to ramp up the next few weeks. In 5 weeks we are running 16 miles which is really hitting uncharted territory for me. 

Anyway, while I do not think I could run a full marathon tomorrow, let's say, I do feel like the program is setting me up so that I can finish the race and be able to live to tell about it. Though, I still have had enough people tell me I am crazy, so thanks for the encouragement!

The experience has been very interesting, and dare I say kind of fun. Everyone in the group is very nice, and there are a wide varieties of skill levels. I am able to run with different people each time, some that are faster and keep me challenged and others that are slower and make sure I don't run too fast. When it is super hot, the group that runs a little slower is probably a lot better for me. 

To date I am 61% toward my fundraising goal which I am very proud of. I am also well beyond my minimum to run the race, so this this is actually going to happen. It has been amazing how many people have donated and how those donations have added up. As of writing this I have had 51 different donors from 8 different states, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. 

Thank you to those of you who have donated already as well as those that are reading this and about to donate. I appreciate all of the support as I approach running the Chicago Marathon October 11th. 

And for more enjoyment - here is a picture of me from our Super Hero 10K that we did last week. As you can see - I dressed up as Captain America!

I actually look happy in this picture too! 

Thanks for your support!

I am about to embark on one of the most exciting, rewarding, and possibly dumbest adventures as I compete in the 2015 Hunger Games Chicago Marathon. For many years I have said that I would never run the marathon because that is just too crazy. So here I am!

The thrill of seeing so many supporters (and hopefully friends and family as well) will be a great experience as I run, walk, waddle, and crawl(?) through many of Chicago's neighborhoods. I have always admired those who are able to complete this task, and while it may be the elite runners who get the glory running at a pace that I do not think I could do in a sprint, I have a true appreciation for those every day folks who go out and complete 26.2 miles. I mean if some lady who is 9 months pregnant can run the marathon then I'm sure I can. Besides, I can guarentee I will not be 9 months pregnant in October. 

You might ask, Jason - still why would you do such a crazy feat? My answer - I do not know, but I hope to have an answer once all of this is done. I told many people that if I was able to run a half marathon in under 2 hours I would run the Chicago Marathon. Well 1 hour 58 minutes and 38 seconds later in the rain - I did it!

History says that the first person to run the marthon in Greece died. In order to achieve my goal of not being like him and finishing and surviving a marathon, I'm teaming up with Team in Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Besides just helping to raise money to fight cancer, Team in Training provides support for runners to acheive their goals as we all work together to fight cancer. I was told that if you are going to do something crazy, make sure you do it for the right reasons. While I have been fortunate to never have been impacted directly by these diseases, I want to make sure future generations have the same opportunities that I had such as playing baseball, attending the University of Illinois, going to the Final Four, getting kicked out of skating lessons at 3 years old, throwing a die cast metal tractor at my mom's head, making friends from all over the country, fulfilling my dream of becoming a Major League Baseball player CPA, traveling the United States from coast to coast, and other shenanigans that I might not put in writing. 

Anyway, I truely appreciate any support you are able to provide as it means a lot to me and the many children and parents whose lives will be made better through the research and funding provided by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 

Even if you are not able to dontate monetarily, any words of encouragement beyond "You're an idiot for doing this" will all be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks again!

Jason