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After intensive marathon running over a period of 211 days (7 months), I finally got graduated from the World Marathon Majors (Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Boston and London).
In the trip to run two consecutive marathons in Boston and London in April 2018 within 1 week, running through the Boston Marathon with the worst weather in 122 years and the London Marathon with the hottest weather in 31 years let me experienced the most extreme weather condition of these two marathons in history.
Having spent much energy in coping with the freezing rain and wind in Boston Marathon and suffered from flu for a few days after arriving London, I have not fully recovered from tiredness though I have slept for more than 20 hours continuously in hotel. In London Marathon, the feeling was not right in 8km as the energy was simply not in position. To avoid getting fainted halfway and failed to finish the marathon, I switched from running mode to walking mode immediately. At around the 30km checkpoint, my feeling was getting better so I switched back to running mode slowly. This has made my finish time the slowest among the six World Marathon Majors: 6:39:02. It was a real blessing to finish the marathon under such constraints!
Some people said completing the World Marathon Majors is simply a money game: You can afford the money, you get the medal. This has really over-simplified the matter. In the journey to complete the World Marathon Majors, it did cost a lot. However, is money the only factor?
Every Six Star Finisher have their own reasons for chasing the Six Stars and their own story of overcoming the hurdles. I try to share my thoughts from a different perspective.
Having gone through half of my life and as a person with barely any exercise in 20 years, my friends regard me as the least possible one to complete a marathon. Having learnt running for 3 years, finishing 11 marathons in 18 months, and completing the World Marathon Majors in 211 days, I have learnt to understand my weaknesses, and train to improve my persistence and courage to face and overcome these weaknesses.
Among marathon runners, I belong to the slowest group of “run and walk” runners. In my World Marathon Majors journey, my best time is 4:39:33 and my worst time is 6:39:02. 3 years ago I thought the World Marathon Majors has absolutely no relationship with me. When I went through the planning, arrangement and training in a step by step manner, the power to overcome the weaknesses was originated from facing the weaknesses honestly.
Marathon is more than sports. It is a spirit to be persistent against challenges.
Marathon is more than exercise. It is a life journey for mutual support and growth with teammates.
In the showering rain and freezing wind of Boston Marathon, no matter how much a runner was willing to pay, there was no way to make the suffering moment to pass even a second faster. London Marathon was held 6 days after Boston Marathon. It is the hottest London Marathon in history. When a runner carried a body that had been severely tortured and exhausted by the Boston Marathon to struggle in the running course, no people would think money could be of any help at that moment. Money could only bring me to those cities and help me get the entries for running but it could never help me complete the marathons.
As a least qualified marathon runner, I adopted the most humble attitude to face every marathon. I followed the principle of being injury-free to finish every marathon and paid my best effort. The process of completing every marathon was a process of experiencing grace and blessings. For elite runners, marathon might be just a piece of cake. For a marginal runner like me, it costed me sweat, hard-work and persistence to finish every marathon.
Completing the World Marathon Majors is not only a dream come true but more importantly a journey filled with memories and learnings for the rest of my life.
Starting from the first station of the World Marathon Majors, I have been extremely cautious – like walking on thin ice. In my flight returning to Hong Kong, I watched the movie “The Darkest Hour” and it closed the movie with a famous quotation from Former UK Prime Minister – Mr Churchill:
“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
While Churchill’s quotation was said against the World War II background, it really touched me when I saw it after completing the World Marathon Majors. It is really the learning to face one’s weakness and insufficiency that gives me the courage to persist and know how to persist. When I revisit my World Marathon Majors journey, it is this learning that helps me get through it all.
After completing the World Marathon Majors,
the world becomes bigger,
I become smaller.
Marathon is always a humbling experience.
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