Scott William

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I was selected to run the Mt. Washington Road Race this year.  This was the third time I have entered in the last 4 years and the first time I was chosen.  It is a 7.6 mile race up Mt. Washington's toll road.  The average grade is 12% and I hope to finish in a bit over two hours.  I have done 4 marathons and a couple Goofy Challanges and I expect this to be my most rewarding experience.  I won't know until the end though.  As a fat person (still 260) going up was always the hardest thing.  Even as a pre-op, I believe that I could have finished a marathon in a reasonable amount of time.  I could have never gotten up Mt. Washington.  At the same time that I dread the race as it's the only race I have ever gotten nervous for, I am terribly excited about it!

Most people who come here don't stay.  They come, get the info that they need and vanish.  There stay is in the one year range.

For some reason, I have been here pretty steady for all that time.  I think that it''s one of the things that keeps me honest and in touch with my surgery.  My hunch is that when people start to fail or if they are not as successful as they think they should be, they disappear instead of staying and getting help.  Maybe I am wrong and they have wonderful success and thay don't need OH any more.  Anyway, I'll have more on this with my next blog post in about 5 years.

This was coppied from a post on the men's board.  The thread was "Why I do what I do", by AJP

I wish I could make the chat but I work second shift so I have no social life. This is the same question that runners often ask themselves.  The answer is nearly impossible.  The "because it's there" answer is true but does not provide the whole answer. 

John Bingham is a runner whose gimmic is that he is slow.  He writes for Runners World and has come up with a good answer that I can tweak a little to make mine.

I run away from many things.  Mostly I run away from being fat.  I run away from everyone who has doubted me in life.  I run away from the 12 minute mile that I ran in the 5th grade and was last.  I run away from being picked last in elementary school.  I run away from the girls that I thought would not date the fat kid.  I run away from the inmates who would yell "fat F**K" every time I walked into a dorm.  I run away not being able to time my shoes.  I run away from a million things.

I run toward a million tihings.  I run toward high self confidence.  I run toward self esteem.  I run toward the pretty girls.  I run toward being healthy.  I run toward a goal that  less than 2% of the population has done.  I run because when someone sees me on a treadmill for an hour, they think I'm nuts.  It empowers me.  I run because the 26.2 mile pain feels so good for so long.  I run for the T-Shirts.  Mostly I run because hopefully, my son sees me and wants to be me.  

I cried when he shoved a fist full of McDonalds fries into his mouth and said, "I want to eat like you daddy",  I would love to cry because just finished a race and perhaps I had something to do with it.

Thanks
Scott

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1303681&page=2

That is the link to the race report with about 15 pictures.  I think the report is the 4th post down the page.  That is the long report.

Here is the short version:
I finished in 5:20 which was about 20 minutes quicker than Disney.  There was more pain involved in this one but it was a different pain which was, oddly, easier to handle.  At Disney I felt like I would seize up at any moment but here there was no doubt of finishing.  The legs did not work well for about the last six miles.  All that and I did not lose my timming chip.
 
The one annoying thing was that I entered the clydesdale divison and was not listed in the results there.  I won the 226+ marathon divison because according to the coolrunning there were no entrants other than me.  I guess that I was the biggest person to finish the marathon.

On Sunday, 13 months of work and determination will culminate in my crossing the finish line at approximately 11:15 am. I am guessing that it will be pretty emotional since I have cried at the end of every run that I have had over 16 miles. I am not sure why but whatever. Thanks to everyone who has helped to get me to this point. I feel more prepared to succeed with this race than anything I have done on my life. 5 hours to glory!

I leave at 240 lbs which is the upper end of my goal range.  I would guess that puts my in the top 2% or so for weight of everyone running.  Like I said, it is only a guess.  I will post the results when I get back.

Today, my son got very mad at me because I had to drop him off a little early to his mom so that I could get a short run in.  He was mad because he wanted to run with me.  I told him a week or so ago that I had signed him up for the Disney kids race.  I think his age is 200M.  Boy would I love it if he really got into it.  After all, his future was one of the reasons for my surgery.

12-7-05
My surgery date is on the 9th.  Just two days away.  All the bad thoughts are behind me and the anticipation is building.  My ex -wife is
letting me stay with her until I know I will be fine on my own.  I am thinking a few days.  There are a lot more supportive people in my family than I thought.  Even my dad who I was not sure about, is supportive and
will do his best to be there when I wake up (from Florida).