Since February, I have been training for the Marine Corps Marathon on 10/30/11. I’m very happy to announce that I actually finished that thing. Can you believe it? The same person that had a hard time finishing the 3.2 miles in Sea Girt finished 26.2 miles in hilly Arlington and Washington D.C. It was a long training road filled with highs and lows, and I can’t say that the marathon went completely smooth either, but I finished and got a really sweet medal for it.

There were four main motivations that had me finish the MCM. The first was my faith… I wouldn’t have even started it if I didn’t feel motivated to give it a go in prayer. I didn’t know how hard it would be, but once the training started to ramp up, I knew that this was a test of my faith, discipline, and my mental toughness.

Second is the Arlington Road Running group. Without their regimen and support, I doubt I would be prepared at all for this race. The third is Jill, my girlfriend, who also ran her first marathon. While she is a much better runner than I can ever dream to be, her discipline, personal support, company, and love really kept my training on track and kept me dedicated to the cause.

And while I didn’t have to raise money to run this race, I gave the LRG the opportunity to sponsor and use my training to raise money to help find a cure for GIST. Since many of you have donated to them in my honor, you (as well as them) were the last and definitely not least source of motivation for me to run this thing. Initially I planned on raising around $1,000 for the Life Raft Group, but raised that alone at my summer BBQ fundraiser.

In the end, I raised $2,694. I was deeply touched by that, and felt I couldn’t let down all these people who decided to support the group that supports the extension of my life. So to all of you, thank you so much.

If you would like to read more about the build up to Jason’s marathon, read about it in the October 2011 newsletter issue.