Once upon a time there was a young boy who loved to run around outside.  Running through the open lot across the street from his home in St. Andrew; Down the Gully to chase imaginary foes in endless games of hide and seek;  Climbing up the huge Mango tree in his friend’s backyard to talk Big…and eat Mangos.  It was idyllic!  The boy loved to run!  And then…he stopped running.

As the no-running years piled up, the weight piled on.  A kilo here and and another there…mostly the waistline:  a couple of inches at first, then a couple more.  If couch surfing was a sport, he was top of the podium!

But one day when his waist line threatened to hit 50″ and his weight was well past 225lbs, he started running again. Slowly at first…more walking than running! And under cover of darkness in the evening or early morning.  But he kept at it. Grudgingly most days and with many stops-and-starts.  But the boy kept running.  One day:  “Hmmm…did I just tighten my belt a notch?”

The boy, now a young man with an expanding family kept at it.  The inches melted away along with the weight.  Running felt good again!  Time to go racing:  10K’s at first then up to Half Marathons.  After a few years Triathlons.  Those were great years!  Swimming, Cycling and especially Running!

Kids born and raised;  Jobs and travel;  Life’s ups and downs;  Through it all he kept running.  Sometimes it was the only thing that kept him going.  Running was therapy. Time to tackle the Marathon. And for the first Marathon, Reggae Marathon.  After that first year,  a love affair was born with Reggae Marathon: 2019 makes it 11 consecutive years in Negril.

Age has crept up…it always does.  PB’s well behind, younger runners ahead.  A bit more slowly now but still running every day.  Too many metaphors for running and life, or is it life and running?  It doesn’t really matter.  He’s a runner.

The little boy still loves to run outside.  He never really grew up. And never will!

Until next time…

Reggae Marathon RunninGuy