Completing a marathon is something that I have always wanted to accomplish in my running career. This past summer, my initial plan was to run the 26.2 mile distance at the Philadelphia Marathon in November. I felt that this would keep me motivated to train and race at a competitive level after recently graduating college and no longer having a team to run for. However, running a marathon is a goal for the single runner. A marathon runner runs for himself and to achieve a self-made goal. After joining the Garden State Track Club, and meeting other runners as dedicated to reaching their utmost athletic abilities as I was, I found a new motivation to train for – a team. I knew that these new teammates of mine were putting in mile after mile on the pavement, killing track workouts, and making everyday sacrifices just like myself to run as fast as their bodies would take them. They, too, had their own, personal goals. But they also had a collective goal – to accomplish something special at the USATF Club Cross Country National Championship in Lexington, Kentucky. Because of that, I decided that this was something I wanted to be a part of. I wanted to help my new team achieve its goals in the bluegrass state, and running a marathon myself was not going to allow me to do that. And although each of my teammates may not have accomplished their own individual goals, I know that my decision to forgo my spot on the starting line in Philly to run as a part of my new team in Kentucky was the right thing for me to do.
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