Do You Know a Running Hero?

You may not know it, but there are heroes all around us. They're not given medals. They're not recognized on the 6 o'clock news. And they're not rich and famous. But, they are heroic nonetheless.

These are ordinary people who overcome extraordinary obstacles—weight challenges, the death of a loved one, a chronic illness, the loss of a job, and/or mental or physical disabilities, just to name a few. Many of these people use running to help them overcome those life obstacles.

Over the past two years, I've featured over 40 examples of these everyday running heroes. These are some of the most inspirational and motivating people I have had the privilege to encounter.

There is Noah who lost over 60lbs to make sure he was setting a good example for his son and so he'd be around to see him grow up. There is Ann affectionately known as "Grannie Annie" who decided to take up running at age 50 and who now at age 67 has run over 70 marathons. There is Danica and her amazing story about her courageous mom's battle with cancer and how running helped Danica gain back some normalcy in her life after the passing of her mom. There is Mel who has an amazing 2nd-chance story of how she regained her life from mysterious seizures. And there is David who used running to help him deal with his sister’s cancer having come out of remission. These are just a few of the 40+ stories shared on the blog.

Recommend a Runner of the Week!
Do you know someone like Noah, Ann, or Mel who with an inspirational running story? If so, I'd love to hear it and share it with the thousands of runners all over the USA and the world who read RunnerDude's Blog. If you know of a great candidate for RunnerDude's Runner of the Week, please email me at runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com. Be sure to put "Runner of the Week" in the email's subject line.

How Has Running Changed Your Life?

I have read numerous stories about people who have used running to help them overcome monumental obstacles in their lives. Each story no matter how similar or different is a true inspiration. Running has helped me deal with a chronic illness and to this day still helps keep me a healthy, positive, and motivated person.

How has running helped you overcome a life obstacle? I'd like to feature on the blog the stories of a different RunnerDude's Blog readers who are willing to share their experiences. What an awesome way to inspire and motivate others to possibly use running as a tool to change their lives for the better.

Periodically I'll be asking you (the readers) to send me your stories. For this first round, email your story along with an attached photo (jpeg format) and/or a YouTube video link of yourself (suitable for posting on the blog) to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com with the subject line "My Story" by midnight Friday, July 31. Each email that's received will be placed in a drawing for a $25 RoadRunner Sports Gift Card. Each email will be assigned a different number based on the order that the emails are received. The winning number will be selected by The True Random Number Generator at Random.org on Saturday, August 1. This is simply a drawing for the participants. The stories will not be judged in any way. My goal is to try and post as many of the submitted stories as possible.

I look forward to reading, celebrating, and sharing your stories with all of the RunnerDude's Blog readers and seeing the powerful impact they'll undoubtedly have.