23 Jul 2019 fitness
A few days ago, while perusing the Strava app, I saw an advertisement for a contest they’re running:
Strava is giving away five prize packages to first-time marathoners for this year’s [TCS New York City marathon]. You’ll get our full support – a free entry, free Summit, free gear, free coaching and cash to cover expenses. Fill out the form below between July 15th and July 31st, 2019 to enter to win. We want more than just your basic details – take a minute to tell us about you. We’ll select a diverse group of first timers with deserving stories. You gotta want it!
Funnily enough, I’ve already been entertaining the idea of running the NYC Marathon in November, and have gone so far as to try to convince a few friends to do it with me. Seeing as how I haven’t yet figured out how I’m going to secure a spot in the race, entering the contest was a no-brainer. Here’s what I wrote:
Hi, I’m Mack. I’m a Buffalonian turned New Yorker turned Californian; my wife, Christine, and I relocated to San Francisco earlier this year (here’s a video of our adventure: https://youtu.be/-8bhAZzirpY). The four years we spent in New York City - from 2015 to 2019 - were a whirlwind. In that time, we got engaged (here’s a video I made for the proposal: https://youtu.be/eZSV7smi4HAAa), we got married, and we welcomed our first nephew into the world (you know the drill: https://youtu.be/cOACQZpe0rs).
We moved to California specifically to experience new things, to push ourselves to become better. In fact, since the day we arrived, I’ve been training for the San Francisco Half Marathon, which takes place this Sunday. I’ve been thinking a lot about what to do next, and the only thing that makes sense is the TCS NYC Marathon. It’d be more than just a huge personal accomplishment - it’d also be an opportunity to see our family, whom we love and miss more than anything else in the world.
Crossing my fingers, and also chuckling at the idea of someone from Strava watching my vlogs.
15 Aug 2019
Strava got back to me. I didn’t win - oh well.
It was an honor and pleasure to read all the stories from the TCS NYC Marathon Contest (yes, we read every single one!). We wish we could send every Strava runner to New York, but unfortunately we’ve had to choose just a few. You didn’t win this time around, but we wanted to send this note of sincere appreciation. Thank you. Runners like you make Strava what it is.