When I ran the WDW Marathon on January 12, 2025, I knew that was going to be the last time that I would cover the 26.2 mile distance. It was my 27th marathon and it was coming as the last leg in the Dopey Challenge – an endurance event I wanted and needed to accomplish to put a capstone on my marathon “career.”

Even though I was retiring from marathons, I was not retiring from running.

I knew I would never run a 26.2 mile race, but I was sure I’d still do some longer runs around home and I figured that I’d also run some half-marathons and races of shorter distances and such.

Alas! It just didn’t happen. I still ran, but settled into a pattern of running only three miles or four at a clip. I then had some Achilles issues, and before I knew it, time was passing me by.

I did run the Spring Lake Five Miler in May, but, for the most part, I did not get back to running long distances. I did a 7-miler to end June. I did another 7-mile in mid-August… and then,as far as longer type runs, that was it.

In October, I was asked back to work to serve as an interim principal – but just until Christmas. I must have done a good job, because the Board of Education then asked me to stay on as the Superintendent of Schools through June. I happily agreed.

I loved the six months that I served as the superintendent. I couldn’t have asked for better people to work for and with. The Board of Education was great. The administrators as well. The teachers, and everyone were simply terrific – as were the important people in town such as the mayor, police chief, and so many others. It was a fantastic experience.

While I loved being the superintendent, doing that job did not allow me much time to get back into running. I didn’t have the old energy of waking up at 4:00 a.m. and banging out a ton of miles before work. (I am not as young as I used to be.) Spending long days in an office also added about ten pounds to my frame which doesn’t bode well for a runner.

After retiring (again) at the end of June, I started running with seriousness in July. My longest run in July was five miles. In August my focus was less on running than the arrival of our new (wonderful) granddaughter.

A few weeks ago, on September 5, I went out for a run and was able to reach 6 miles. I felt great and went back into my running logs and found that that was my longest run since I had done the seven mile run the previous August – in 2025. I did not realize that it had been that long since I covered six miles. Yikes!

This morning, I went out for a run. I wanted to try to better six miles.

I did.

Today I ran 8 miles. Eight!

I then wondered when I had last covered a distance that far.

I hadn’t run 8 miles since the last leg of the Dopey Challenge in the WDW Marathon in January 2025. My goodness.

For the first time in more than a year-and-a-half, I feel somewhat like a runner again. It feels good. I must resolve going forward not to let that kind of time ever go by again without pushing my body past barriers (real or perceived).

I am no longer a marathoner. But I am a runner.

And it feels great to be back!