I started running in 2016, running a continuous 5K successfully for the first time in my life on my 45th birthday that year. Since then, I've been an on-again/off-again runner, sometimes very enthusiastic about it, but usually viewing it as a chore.

This year, however? A switch has gone off in my head, and I'm taking running seriously for the first time. I ran my first ever timed 10K in April on a very tough and hilly cross-country course. Since then, I've run three more 10Ks and my first half marathon. By the end of this year, I'll have run two more 10Ks, and at least three more half marathons, including the infamous Rocky Run in Philadelphia in November. I'm running 20-30 miles weekly, and even more as I get closer to each race. I have run nearly 700 miles this year and am on track to complete more than 1,200 by New Year's Eve.

At the beginning of the year, if you had told me I'd be doing all this and looking forward to training for my first marathon at 52 years of age, I'd've told you to stop lying. Now? Well, let's just say I don't see this stopping any time soon.

I sure would like to run my first full marathon next May in my hometown, Ogden, Utah. Anything you can do to help me get there will earn you my undying gratitude.