Travel Running: Fulfilling a Childhood Dream
Me, about the cross the finish line in the Prague Half Marathon. April 1, 2023.
I didn’t LOVE running when I first began but I knew I had something special when I won the fifth grade gym class mile. I was competitive and I liked to run fast.
In the sixth grade, I was given a choice: Try out for the soccer team or join cross country. My father, a lifelong runner, who coached college running and owned his own summer running camp helped me make that choice.
When I was old enough, I attended my father’s running camp for the first time. We were given an assignment to write down three running goals on a card. I had to make an “immediate” goal (i.e. something I wanted to accomplish that season), a “reach” goal, (i.e. something that would require a bit more work than the typical training/something that would definitely require some tenacity and consistency), and the third, a “dream” goal, which was the biggest running dream you may have for yourself. The first three summers my “dream” goal was to run the Hawaii Marathon (which I still plan to complete). But, each summer after 10th grade my dream got bigger, and my new dream goal read:
Run races all around the world.
I have subconsciously grown into meeting that goal as I am now 25 and completing international races around the world.
I signed up for and am currently in the midst of completing the 2023 SuperHalfs Half Marathon Challenge across Europe. This circuit began in 2022 and is comprised of five races in five cities.
Now, you can take up to 36 months to complete all five races, BUT I thought I needed to complete them within a year so I signed up for all five in 2023. The moment I learned this truth, it all made so much more sense. A handful of the five races are only two weeks apart from each other…and who in their right mind would fly across Europe every two weeks to run a half marathon?!
My blunder may have led to an unnecessarily ambitious goal, but I’ve realized that if you embrace your mistakes and are willing to laugh at yourself, good experiences will be waiting for you on the other end.
My first SuperHalf race, the Lisbon Half Marathon, (full recap coming soon), was completed on March 12, 2023. My second race, the Prague Half Marathon, was completed this past weekend on April 1st. To my bewilderment, I beat my best half marathon time from my college days. and set a new personal best. That was a nice feeling.
I know that my travels across Europe are just beginning, so it’s a great feeling to hang each medal on the wall and see that I am one race closer to fulfilling my younger self’s dream of racing across the world.
Cheers for now,
Caroline
