Tag: Life

16 Weeks Until The NYC Marathon, But…

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July 13, 2025

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Well, this is a strange and unique feeling for me.  The NYC marathon is 16 weeks away and today would be the start of my marathon training season.

But I’m not training for marathons any longer.  

My most recent marathon last January was my last marathon.  

As I completed the Dopey Challenge in Walt Disney World in January, I determined that my marathon days were over.  My reasons for retiring from marathoning are legion.  I’ll touch on some of them below, but I have written a lot about that on these pages before.

The following are some of my scattered thoughts as I break away from the 16-week training period for the NYC – a ritual I followed for the better part of a quarter-century:

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But The Best Part…

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I got the start today for our baseball team.

I went the first five innings and earned the win. We won 7-4.

I never thought, at 56-years-old, I’d still be playing baseball, and pitching no less.

I am on a wonderful team comprised of the greatest group of men you could imagine. I look forward to every game.

Every game is a joy. Every inning. Every single pitch. It is all wonderful. I’m living a dream.

And dreams are good.

But the best part of it all isn’t a dream.

The best part is that I get to play baseball on the same team alongside my son.

There is nothing better than that.

Life After 26.2

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As I got clobbered on the hills of Pittsburgh on the second half of the marathon in May 2023, I swore that that was my last marathon.  I was miserable.  I struggled.  There is a certain hell that one goes through in the upper miles of a marathon.  In that race, my 24th marathon, I’d had it. 

I quit marathoning more than a thousand times over the final miles on the unforgiving hills of Pittsburgh.

Only… 

I didn’t quit.

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A Simple (but profound) Prayer

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A long time ago, while the disciples were sitting with Jesus, they asked him how to pray.  Jesus answered them.  He first told them that God already knew what was in their hearts.  He then shared with them some simple words to be used for prayer.  These are words that have profound meaning.  We know these words as The Lord’s Prayer.

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The Greatest Story Ever!

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Did you ever wait in great anticipation for a new movie or a new book?  You wait and you wait and you wait – and then finally the day comes. The book arrives or you head to the theater.

And then, it all ends too quickly.  

It’s over before you know it.  

I feel that way reading the Bible.  

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NYC Marathon Sermon 2024

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Each year, at the start of the TCS Marathon, I serve as one of the chaplains who run the Non-Denominational Christian Service for the runners in the Start Village.

The following is the sermon I delivered this year before the big race:

Marathon Sermon 2024

I am going to begin this year’s message with a passage from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 9:

“You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win!”

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Just Be You

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I used to run a lot of 5K races.  I never won any, but I enjoyed running as fast as I could for just over the three miles that those races cover.  I’d race against other runners, but in actuality, I would really be racing against myself.  

A few weeks ago, I ran my first true 5K race in six years. 

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The Greatest of All Time!

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As we progress through life, our priorities change – sometimes dramatically.  As we age, we gain wisdom and make decisions, big and small, placing different values on things that we determine to be important.  Some things that might have seemed important at one time no longer are.  As life changes, priorities change.  

And this is good and necessary and important.

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28,433 (When Is Enough… Enough?)

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I Love running.

I run, a lot.

I have been running for decades.

I have completed 25 marathons. This fall I’ll be running the New York City Marathon (for the 11th time) and then, in January, I’ll do the Dopey Challenge at Disney World.

Tomorrow, I turn 56-years-old.

I still play baseball as a pitcher. I exercise every single day, usually twice a day. This (of course) includes a lot of running.

I run, a lot.

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My Book: 365.2 – Featured on the WOFC Podcast

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Here is the Podcast link: https://ksje.podbean.com/e/write-on-four-corners-with-delsheree-gladden-interview-with-paul-semendinger-1719863217/

Click on the image below for link to purchase the book:

From the Write On Four Corners Podcast:

“Dr. Paul Semendinger returns to the show this week to discuss his newest book, “365.2: Going the Distance: A Runner’s Journey,” which details his effort to run every day for an entire year. He talks about the challenges he faced on his quest to achieve his goal and how he motivated himself to keep moving forward. “