Even though I don’t run marathons any longer, this morning I gave back to the people, the race, and the city I love my serving as the co-chaplain at the religious service tent. It was a glorious day for the runners.
Here is the sermon I delivered at all of the services:
Continue reading “My NYC Marathon Sermon 2025”
17.5 miles. Yes, you read that correctly. 17.5 miles. A great 17.5 mile run!!!
The long run was CRUSHED!
The long run was DESTROYED!
The long run was CONQUERED!
The man Is MARATHON READY! OH YEAH!
No, not me. I covered the distance, yes, but I didn’t run that far. It wasn’t me. It was Alex!
Continue reading “CRUSHING The Long Run!”
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:
Continue reading “16 Weeks Until The NYC Marathon, But…”
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.
Continue reading “Life After 26.2”
Over time, we find out where we belong. We find our niche. We get comfortable where we are. This is true with the places we go, the friends we seek, and activities we participate in. And so much more.
This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t try new things, or visit new places, or look for new experiences, but, by and large, we find our comfort zones and we often stay in those places.
This is true of so many things in life.
For me, it also seems very true of my marathon times. It seems I have found my comfort zone.
Continue reading “Right Where I Ought To Be”
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!”
Continue reading “NYC Marathon Sermon 2024”
I am among the first generation of Sesame Street kids. I grew up (in a sense) with (and even on) Sesame Street. Ernie, Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog, Bob, Maria, Mr. Hooper, and the others were all a big part of my childhood. I felt like Sesame Street was part of my suburban neighborhood in northern New Jersey. The characters were my friends, even if I didn’t know them personally.
I learned a lot by watching Sesame Street. While I credit the wonderful picture book Crash, Bang, Boom for teaching me first how to read, I did learn a lot about the alphabet and numbers, and so much more, from the people, the monsters, and the other characters on Sesame Street.
Continue reading “Getting To (and Giving To) Sesame Street”
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.
Continue reading “28,433 (When Is Enough… Enough?)”
I ran my first New York City Marathon in 2002. That seems like a long time ago. In subsequent years (2003, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022) I also ran New York City. It is a race and experience like none other. It’s a race that touches my heart and my soul in many ways. I love the big city; always have. And I love running through it. I love the New York City Marathon.
Continue reading “NYC Marathon Weekend 2023”
The following is the sermon I delivered at the start of the 2023 New York City Marathon.
***
One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes from Hebrews. Most runners are familiar with the passage as it reads:
“Let us run with perseverance, the race set before us.”
That, of course, is what we are here to do today. We are here to run, with purpose, and strength, using all our abilities and courage and confidence, that race, a big and mighty race, set before us.
Continue reading “Bringing God Into Our Running Lives”
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