YEAR OF THE MARATHON CHALLENGE

Ever since I started walking in March 2020, I knew my body could only endure so much with regards to long distance walking.  Though I don’t rule out doing more races in future years, this will be my pinnacle year for race walking.  I’m looking at 2022 as the final year of this walking trilogy I’ve been on.  It’s also the final year of me being in my forties and while my body is still able, I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity to the max. 

In 2020, I walked my first marathon, walking Long Beach to Cypress to Signal Hill and back, 27 miles wearing jeans.  Then I raced my good friend Marcos doing 18.2 miles for charity while on a trip in Montana.  

In 2021, I did a 32 Mile Endurance Charity Walk in 90 temperatures, 10+ hours straight on my feet.  I then did my first two sanctioned Marathons in Long Beach and Los Angeles, 4 weeks apart. 

After the LA Marathon and a little break from walking, I started to think about what I wanted to do for 2022.  How could I top these first two years and make the third year of my trilogy EPIC.  I came up with this idea for my next MONSTIR CHALLENGE being the “Year of the Marathon” challenge, though I didn’t know exactly what it would entail. 

I can say now I have a clearer picture of my 2022 goals after weeks of thinking it through.  With my love of numbers, I’ve envisioned doing 11 races minimum for this challenge, 6 Full Marathons and 5 Half Marathons.  “11” is my wife and I’s special number.  We were married on 6-11-11.  In 2022 we will celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary together.  So it only seems fitting to attempt 11 races for this challenge.  I will be doing some 5K’s and 10K’s in addition to the half and full marathons, so I will be having a number of race walking days that will add up to more than 11 during the year…

So far i had committed to three marathons and one half marathon between February and May.   I thought Surf City Marathon in February was going to be my first event but recently I’ve added the Rose Bowl Half Marathon on January 16th as my second ‘Half’ and doing a virtual 10K in order to get the bonus Conquer LA Medal when finishing the LA Marathon in March. 

2022 is shaping up to be an EPIC year and I figure why limit that to walking alone.  Let’s apply this max philosophy for one year to my entire life!  

Two of my passions are live concerts and travel.  We already had a bunch of concerts lined up in 2020 that were pushed into 2021 and more in 2022, so how fun would it be to break my yearly record for live concerts in 2022!  Travel has been fairly limited for my liking the last dozen years.  The 10 years between my mid twenties and mid thirties was my most prolific travel years, mainly internationally.  The pinnacle was in 2006 where I was in the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe.  In Europe my buddy and I did 12 countries in 23 days!  I’m planning to do a domestic travel marathon in 2022 doing some destination walking events starting with Las Vegas at the end of February.  Hoping to also do a vacation or two in there as well. 

Work wise, I’m planning to make 2022 my most successful year yet!  I’ve been working hard these last 3+ years after taking over my father’s business and I’m setting a goal to make more money this year than I have in any of the last 11 years, keeping with the number theme. 

This is an overly ambitious agenda and will I accomplish it all?  Time will tell but as my wife has been teaching me lately, put what you want out of life into the world!  You might be surprised what you get by asking for it!  One thing I’ve learned about myself on this walking journey, whatever I lack in skills or technique, I make up in sheer determination.  My crowning achievement in this department was during my Endurance Charity Walk this past March where my body gave out after 15 miles but I found the will to push through an additional 17 miles to complete the 32 mile challenge.  When I set my mind to something, I’m committed.  

I will admit, this challenge is equal parts intimidating and exciting.  I’ve never committed myself to a year long plan to accomplish so many major things.  The goal is also to do as much as I can with a smile and complain less. I love testing this idea of how much can we accomplish when we set bigger and greater goals!  There are so many inspiring people out there that do amazing things and I want to be one of those people.  I’ve never been athletically gifted though I’ve always had a love of sports as a spectator.  I’m not fast, I enjoy food too much, my feet are a complete mess, but I am proud that in less than two years I’ve become an endurance athlete.  To this point, between walking outside and on the elliptical, I’ve walked a total of 2,463.69 miles from March 29, 2020 - January 1, 2022.

So this brings me to why I’m sharing all of this with you.  What I’ve learned is that one of the best parts of doing these challenges is the ability to help raise money for others in need.  I want to make this fundraiser as equally epic as everything I’m doing in 2022 and to do so I need your help.  Small donations, big donations, telling others about my fundraiser…  I’ll need it all to accomplish my goal!  I want raise more money combined than I did in 2020 & 2021.  This is going to be a year long fundraiser with the GOAL of raising over $22,000 for the year 2022!  

I’ve set up this Go Fund Me Page and with this challenge, I’m raising money for two organizations once again.

The first organization being the one that has grown so close to my heart these last 11 years in Interval House for families and victims of domestic violence.  They are a local charity that has become a model program nationally, taking care of internationally diverse survivors.  They show how something rooted small can grow to be life changing on a big scale.  Carol Williams and her team are heroes in my eyes and helping them raise money in any way I can brings me great joy.  Truly remarkable people who are involved and work within this organization.  The hard work, made harder by the pandemic, makes every donation more crucial at this time.  They are literally saving lives and families from violence in the homes.  I encourage you to look into their work and hear their stories. Your life will be changed and you will probably come away feeling inspired by what they’ve overcome and how they give back. 

The second organization is something new I’m raising money for and my connection has become quite personal.  I was given permission by both my parents to share my father’s story with you all, with the hopes of putting another face on this disease and raising awareness.  Back in August 2018, my father went in for a routine surgery, but upon recovering, his body started to not operate properly.  We had to have him checked into a hospital as he needed care and we needed to figure out what was going on. The doctors were able to help him with symptoms but unfortunately were not able to find the source of the problem.  He ended up having to remain in a hospital bed for over two months where he got to the point of being unable to communicate.  After the symptoms were under control, he was transferred to a rehab facility to help him start functioning again.  It was there that a doctor on staff noticed the slightest twitch in his hand and recommended having some tests done to confirm his suspicions.  In their analysis, they suspected Parkinson’s.  Upon that diagnosis, he was given medications that drastically improved his quality of life, giving him his voice back, and allowing him to gain function over his body again.  It was a long road of rehabilitation to get him where he is today and with the current state of how the disease progresses, these medications over time will become less effective.  My father has good days and bad days but stays as optimistic as possible.  He is a fighter!  He hopes, as do I, that we can find solutions and treatments in the future that will improve life further or ultimately eliminate the disease by finding a cure.  So at the request of my parents, I’ll be raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. 

Here are links to learn more about both these organizations:

https://intervalhouse.org/domesticviolenceprograms/about.php

https://www.michaeljfox.org/our-agenda

My father loved a good challenge and I’m following in his footsteps to continue that legacy.  I believe these last two years were preparation for what I’m about undertake over this next year.  My wife and I became empty nesters this past year so the timing for this challenge couldn’t be better as I have more time to dedicate myself to this year long marathon. 

A special shout out to my parents who allowed me to dream so big my entire life and to my wife who allows me to take the time needed for such ambitious goals and encourages me in my crazy endeavors!  

I appreciate your time and support if you’re able.  Hoping you accomplish all your goals in 2022.  Please stay healthy, enjoy life, and continue to give good away!

~Don

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