The
Challenge of Completing 40 Races at 40
in 2012 by Kelly
It was early
January 2012, Joe, first announced the
idea of running 40 races. As Joe was
approaching his birthday on January 10,
he mentioned that he was thinking of
running in 40
races as a way to celebrate his 40th
birthday. My 40th birthday
wasn’t until July, but it sounded like a
good idea at the time, so I agreed to
complete the challenge with him. Our
only rule for the challenge was we could
complete any races distance as long as
the race had official results.
Our first race was
the Houston half-marathon in January,
which was an excellent race to start the
challenge. Not only did we get to run a
race, but we also witnessed the men’s
and women’s marathon Olympic Trials.
This was the first time in history that
the men’s and women’s marathon Olympic
trials were held in the same city on the
same weekend. It was very exciting
watching both races and seeing who would
be representing the USA in the Olympics.
We didn’t run any races in
February and started to panic as March
rolled around, so we signed up for three
races. About this time, Joe’s track
season at the Junior High started, which
ruled out any Saturday races. I was able
to complete four races in April and four
races in May. Joe could only complete
five races in those two months as he
found it difficult to find Sunday races.
Joe and I both ran
five races in June; however, only three
of those were together as Joe spent two
weeks in Eugene, Oregon volunteering at
the Track and Field Olympic Trials.
July was a rough
month for me. I ran seven races (one 1
mile, four 5K’s, one 10K, and one
half-marathon). I should mention that in
my previous 12 years of running, I had
only completed 80 races, which
translates to an average of 6-7 races
per year. I had now run more races in
one month than I typically run in a
year. I also am not a fan of running in
the heat, so those races were a struggle
to complete. At this point, I was
questioning why I had agreed to this
challenge. My favorite race this month
was the Main Street Mile in Peoria on my
birthday. Not only was it my first
1-mile race, but Joe’s parents, sister,
and niece surprised me by showing up at
the start line. Joe’s Dad, Sister, and 6
year old niece also ran the race while
Joe’s Mom cheered us on. I was very
pleased with my time and my “second
place” finish. An interesting side note,
three months after the race I received a
call from the race director letting me
know that I was actually first in my age
group. I was informed that the “winner”
was a male who wore his wife’s race
number. Never, ever, wear someone else’s
race number!. Joe had to spend July
playing catch-up, so he ran nine races –
crazy!
In August, I again worried
about not meeting our goal so I ran five
races. Joe could only fit in four races
because of his work schedule.
By September I was
unsure if I could complete the
challenge. We had two races scheduled
for Labor Day weekend. After Saturday’s
race I decided I couldn’t handle another
race on Monday. We were at 30 races and
I couldn’t fathom running another race.
We had also signed up for the Chicago
half-marathon the following weekend and
we canceled going to that race too. How
could I possible run another 10 races?
It usually takes me five years to run
this many races and we were only in
three-quarters of the way to our goal.
It was a rough two weeks for me.
Fortunately, I had a client and good
friend that needed a travel and race
partner, so I ran the 5K and went back
on the course to pace her through the
last half of her 10K. There’s nothing
like helping someone else achieve their
race goal.
October included a
half-marathon sandwiched between two
5Ks. We did the St. Louis half-marathon
with several friends and running
clients. November included two 5Ks and a
4 mile race, which brought our total to
39 races.
Race number 40 was
the Rock n Roll half-marathon in Las
Vegas the first weekend in December. I
hadn’t completed a run over 10 miles
since the St. Louis half-marathon, but
the goal of this challenge was always
quantity over quality. Any one that
knows me knows I don’t get emotional or
worked up about racing, but standing at
the start of the Las Vegas half-marathon
was the biggest sense of relief I have
ever felt in a race. There was never a
doubt that I wouldn’t finish that race.
I couldn’t believe we had actually
achieved our goal of completing 40 races
in one year. Running the Strip at Night
was an awesome way to end the challenge.
I have many friends
that run 30+ races a year, but this was
not something that was easy for me to
complete. To emphasize how challenging
this was for me I had completed more 5ks
races in 2012 than in my previous 12
years of running.
I teach mathematics
at Parkland College, I love numbers, and
I’m a geek, so Joe and I kept an excel
file of all the data on our challenge.
To give you a few of the numbers we
recorded: Joe and I drove over 5000
miles and flew over 8000 miles. My
official race tally included one 1-mile,
twenty-six 5Ks, four 4-milers, one 7K,
one 10K, one 8-miler, one 15K, and five
half-marathons. I placed in the top
three in my age group in 25 of the races
and I was the overall female winner in
one 5K. Joe completed two 1-milers,
twenty-three 5Ks, three 4-milers, one
7K, five 10Ks, one 8-miler, one 15K, and
four half-marathons.
Would I ever do
this again? No. The time commitment was
too great, and the stress of trying to
fit in all the races was too much for
me. I’m glad I did it, but there were
several times when it wasn’t fun. I enjoy running too much to worry
about racing.