A record-breaking 42 #IndyMini Ambassadors are training, recruiting and inspiring others in preparation for the 42nd running of the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. We’re sharing their stories through a series of blog posts; 2018 Ambassador Features. Here is one of their stories.
David’s Story
My first ever Mini-Marathon in 2004 was to be a once in a lifetime event. I had run many 5Ks up to that point, still feeding off my love of running from high school days, and was encouraged by my brother to run the Mini-Marathon with him. At the time, I was a new teacher and found the time to train to be intensive. The distance seemed far longer than any human should run so I planned to run it once and go back to 5K running.
David’s #IndyMini Experience
Once you complete such a monumental event you realize that you CAN do it again and do it better, so I continued to run the Mini-Marathon for six years straight and got my PR in 2010. During that time, I had connected to so many runners in the area and we encouraged each other to run it each year, but then I moved away from the Indy area, lost touch with the people, and stopped running altogether.
I found a colleague where I currently work who also had been running the Mini-Marathon for many years and encouraged me to get back into running. Once I got back into running, I found that there were a lot of runners in our community and started connecting to many of them. A couple years ago, while exploring the Mini-Marathon website, I ran across the opportunity to be a Team Captain for our company for the Employee Wellness Challenge. I was greatly encouraged by the response of our community and I am leading it again this year. I really enjoy meeting up with my running friends from the Indy area each year along with those from where I live now. The Mini-Marathon is the only race where I get to connect with my running friends from before and the traditions we established together before and after the race. I have now gotten into the habit of completing two half marathons each year: the Indy Mini in the spring and another in the fall.
David’s Advice
Proper training is important but don’t worry if you aren’t able to complete every day of your training. The long easy runs are the most valuable in building endurance so try not to skip those. Simply completing the Indy-Mini for the first time is so rewarding in itself and there are so many people there to encourage you along the entire course. It is such a great accomplishment to look forward to and I hope you enjoy every minute of it.
Feeling inspired by David’s story? If you’re interested in participating in the 2018 OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, click here.
Andrew, along with our other Ambassadors, will be sharing his training experience and motivation leading up to the race. Follow along and share your experience using #IndyMini on social media!