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| Mark's first 5k |
Since I can’t buy him anything for his birthday, this is his gift. A whole blog post about him. I’m sure most of you are thinking you would rather have a gift card on your birthday. But, hopefully, Mark will appreciate this. And since this is primarily a running blog. I will talk about Mark Sharp, the runner.
Often people ask us who was the runner in the relationship first. The next most popular question is if we have always been runners. The answer to the first question is me. The answer to the second one is absolutely not. Sometimes people then ask if I “make” Mark run. This is always comical to me. In a great relationship it’s strongly discouraged to “make” your partner do something. I never tried to talk him into or bully him into running. I just shared how much I loved it, and he could see all the positive changes it had made in my life.
The truth is I fell head over heels in love with running (ok, I fell in love with the feeling of accomplishment I get from running, not so much the act itself), and it was contagious. At first, Mark was my cheerleader. He came to every race and found places to spot me multiple times during each race. It was a huge help to me mentally and emotionally. And then one day he got the itch to run.
But starting a running plan wasn’t as easy for Mark as it had been for me. Just as I started running, Mark got sick. It took us a long time to figure out what was wrong. In the end, he was diagnosed with heart failure. Trust me when I say this is never something you want to hear about the person you love. It was a very scary time. Also, this is a very condensed version of the story. Ask him to tell you the whole story sometime, it’s amazing!
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| Mark's first half marathon |
After getting his condition stable and talking to his heart doctor, he decided he would join Fleet Feet’s No Boundaries Couch to 5k Training (the same place I started). He often says running saved his life. Which is at least partially true. His heart condition has improved tremendously. I’m so proud of him. Most people would have used a heart condition as an excuse not to run. Instead, he used it as motivation to become healthier.
Sidenote: It's been almost exactly one year since Mark's first race. The Firecracker 5k last year was his first. Happy running anniversary!
In the last year, Mark has completed 5 half marathons and several 5ks. And he's inspired tons of other people to reach their running potential. He’s mentored brand new couch to 5k runners and half marathoners. Additionally, we recently started training for our first full marathon with Team in Training. It will be October 31 in Dublin, Ireland. One of the many things I love about Mark, is his loving, giving and generous heart. When we first started talking about doing this full marathon as a fundraiser, he quickly agreed to do it too. He was anxious to use this race as a platform to help cure blood cancer and to make a difference.
Please consider making a contribution to our fundraising efforts. It would be a great birthday present for Mark! We have to raise a total of $10,000 so far we have raised just over $1,000. Click here to go to our fundraising page.
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| My favorite picture of us when we got engaged after the Mardi Gras Half |
