50 Mile Run

This morning at 5 AM I drove my friend, Pete Stringer, to Provincetown so he could begin his annual 50 mile run to raise money for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cape Cod. He will finish at Barnstable High School at around 8 PM tonight. Normally his time would be much faster, but his back has been acting up lately. Oh, did I mention Pete is 65 years old, and a former out of shape, homeless alcoholic in his younger days.

These days, however, Pete is an ultra marathoner who runs 100 mile races all over the country. He also coaches athletes of all shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities, from disabled people to world class runners. I first met him two years ago when I joined his "beginners" running class. Its a 12 week class. The first week we jog for 30 seconds and walk for 90 seconds, and repeat that 15 times for a half-hour workout. Each week we increase the jogging time and at the end of 12 weeks we are walking 1 minute and jogging 12 minutes, 3 times. He has turned many couch potatoes into runners. Now I'm out there running road races. Not bad for a 62 year old diabetic, quadruple-bypass survivor, and I owe it all to Pete Stringer.

Each year, Pete runs in the Western States 100 mile Ultra Marathon in Leadville, Colorado. He has been asking us to join his support crew, and we might do it next year.