How Long Have I Been Running?

Submitted by: Jason Irvin

Note: I asked Marine Corp runners the question "How long have you been running" so I can help introduce new runners to the club, and let people find potential training partners. Jason's responses was much longer than a simple "3 years", but it was an answer that I really enjoyed reading. After getting his approval, I decided to share the details here. I am hoping his answer will inspire some of you, and maybe encourage some secret blog readers (you know who you are) to come join us for a run.

How long have I been running? I received my first "real" running medal while in middle school in 1985 for the 50 yard dash (had to have been by default). As for road racing, my cousin Herb (and my mentor) would occasionally call me on Friday night and tell me he was picking me up to go run a 5k race the next morning, I almost always went, mostly for the cool shirts and to have something to do. Very rarely had I ever trained for any of these races.

I did ride road bicycles for a short time with a local cycling team called the Tri-Cities Road Club in Tennessee, which was the only training that enabled me to compete and complete any of these running events. The longest race I ever ran (back then in the 80's) was a half marathon, I was probably 14 years old and I have no idea of my finishing time for this first half marathon. I thought the idea was crazy of running 13.1 miles when Herb first proposed the idea to me, he then proceeded to inform me that running is the easiest most natural thing for mankind to do (next to breathing): "you just put one foot in front of the other then repeat".

The only other memorable endurance event of the 80's (for me) was a century bike ride in the hills of West Virginia. I attribute my desire to engage in physical activity of any kind to Herb, he always told me that I was a "glutton for punishment" as I would often opt to take him to the steepest hills I knew of while we were on bike rides. This must have somehow burned an image into my mind as the core of who I am.

I then took a brief (16 year) break from the endurance lifestyle starting in the early 1990's and well into new millennium and conducted an in depth and extensive study of other much, (very much) unhealthy lifestyle options and contributed heavily to Phillip Morris (one pack at a time).

After moving to Rocky Mount, I began to slowly resume physical activity of any kind in 2006 as mostly a means for weight loss and soon after passing the 240 lbs mark on the scale. This led me to find something that had been missing for some time. . . my belt (ha ha) no really, I found that getting back into shape is extremely hard and also that your lungs are amazing self cleansing and healing organs, but mostly I got some sense of satisfaction and a reason to validate all that working out by running races, along with some disappointment.

The disappointment helped to fuel more action, and more races and the thoughts that I could never do the longer distances and then signing up and doing them. The long races make me smile just to say the names of them, much in part because it is hard for me to convince myself that I am actually completing such long distance events. I guess if you are a runner and are reading this then you know what I am talking about, or you are reaching for the phone to call my wife to have me committed, or at least psychologically evaluated.

. . . So really, I have been running for about 3 years.