The Marathon Experience: Take Time to Stop and Smell the Roses - By Andy Baldwin

What questions do people ask you after a race? The top three things I usually hear from people are:

How’d you do?
What was your time?
Did you win?

How often do you hear people ask, “Did you have fun?” Or did you enjoy the scenery of the marathon route? Did you stop and talk with the spectators? Did you slap the hands of the cute little kids along the way?

I would wager you don’t hear these questions too often. But these are all experiences athletic events provide us. Unfortunately most of the time we are so focused on winning, getting the fastest time and dominating a course that we miss the experiences that make athletic events so special. It’s not all about winning or getting a personal record, it’s about experiencing the day and the wonderful people you meet getting to the finish line.

Over the past year I have run more than 10 marathons, done a handful of triathlons and completed a 56 mile ultra-marathon in South Africa. When writing this I thought about how many times I stopped to smell the roses. Not often enough. So with this in mind, I approached the marathon in Chicago last weekend with a different mindset.

The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest marathons in the world (over 35,000 runners), and is an absolutely spectacular course throughout the best parts of the Windy City. It is also the marathon where Team World Vision (the group through which I sponsor two children) got its start. This year, Team World Vision had a record 1,500 runners competing in the race. Together they helped raise well over $1 million dollars for clean water projects in Africa. I had the honor of speaking before hundreds the night before the marathon about the massive effort they were about to take on and how by so doing they were saving the lives of thousands in need of clean water in Africa. I told them, “Have fun out there and remember who you are doing this for, and enjoy the atmosphere, the people, tell them your story, smile!”

And that is exactly what we did. In a sea of orange jerseys supporting Team World Vision, with the photos of my two sponsored children in Africa pinned on my chest, I set out with my friends Michael and Paul to have a fun race. We all smiled as we ran and we had a blast! No watch, no time, no worries, we were flowing off of the energy of the crowd and runners in Chicago. Through Lincoln Park, Little Italy, past the towering skyscrapers, down past Soldier Field, the music was stomping and the sun was shining. We ran forward, we ran backward, we did pushups for the crowd, we stopped to say “hi”, we slapped hands, and we sang.

It was a day I will always remember – truly experiencing and feeling the experience of a marathon. Did I win? No. What was my time? No idea. Do I care? Not really. Did we bond together as a team, and by so doing help save thousands of lives of those less fortunate in Africa? Yes. And that is what matters most.

So next time your uber-motivated training partner asks you what your time was, shrug those shoulders, look at your nonexistent watch, take a deep breath in, smile, and tell them how much you enjoyed the scenery. It might throw them for a loop.