Running For A Reason (in India)

May 23, 2012 3:00 PM ET

DetermiNation Blog

By Jason Coleman

For a person that already runs four active blogs, you would think I’d be a bit hesitant when I heard the question, “How would you like to write for our blog?”  But before I could even count my blogs, the mountain of grading on my desk, the work involved with wrapping up another school year, getting ready to set up a summer house for the first time ever and oh yeah, training for a half-marathon, a reply email had been sent with an enthusiastic, “I’d love to!”

Why did I do it? I’m not sure, I must have blacked out for a second. No really, it’s because it’s that important. As a first-time DetermiNator that has been training for 70 days, I’ve come to see just how important and valuable getting the message out there is. I’ve also come to see most of my city as I’ve put on over 217 training miles!

On June 16, I’ll be running the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota.  For the past two months, I’ve been training in New Delhi, India.  During that time, I have:

  • raised almost $2500 for the American Cancer Society
  • written over 15,000 words on my training blog
  • seen cows, monkeys, peacocks, horses and an antelope on my runs
  • been dunked by my principal in a dunk tank
  • trained on two continents
  • been bitten by a stray dog and received two rabies shots

More importantly than any of that, I have had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people about a lot of different things. We’ve talked about running (a lot), cancer (a lot), music (a lot) and underwear (thankfully, just once).

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