I'm a week removed from the marathon, and I am finally training again. Right now, my thoughts are set on the KV Challenge; I ran a PB on the course last year, and am looking forward to bettering my time this year. After that? I might take a crack at a 50k. One thing is for sure, I am not taking a lot of time off this winter. No need to get out of shape again.
I was thinking about doing a good, bad, and ugly column about Marathon By The Sea, but I really don't have anything bad or ugly to say about it. I don't think you could plan a better race course in Saint John (people have tried), and the start finish at the Lily Lake Pavilion is perfect. And let's not forget your bang for buck - for seventy dollars, I received a sweet running shirt, a massage, a huge post-race feed, and walked away with a $100 door prize (a Green Lee gift certificate) to boot. Making money at a race? I guess that makes me a professional runner!
However, the best part of the Marathon By The Sea was the overall vibe. Hundreds of smiling faces lined the course, each one more encouraging than the last. And while there were only seventy people participating in the full marathon, I rarely felt alone. I've run races around the East Coast, and there are very few runs in the region that can boast this kind of community support.
I've encountered the same sort of community support for the InterAction School of performing arts. My story appeared in both the Telegraph Journal and Here Newspaper, and I received over $1700.00 in donations through Action for InterAction alone. We still have a long way to go - getting into the church is just the first part of what looks to be five year campaign - but like the marathon, InterAction is going to take this project one step at a time. Launching classes in the fall (visit http://www.iactspa.com for full details) is only mile two - when InterAction crosses the finish line, the prize will be a world class performing arts facility in the heart of uptown Saint John.
Stay tuned for more updates - once I confirm my next marathon, I will start a new blog! Thanks again for reading!
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