Marathon runner sets an example

I usually don’t read the newspaper, but when I do I almost always see something extraordinary. When I read this article regarding a Hamiltonian reflecting on his hundredth marathon, I initially did not quite realize the magnitude. The more I think about what he actually did, the more my mind is blown.

The other day I decided to run from Garth Street to Upper Sherman, and by the time I was finished, not only did I catch myself walking half a dozen times, but I was pretty sore for the next couple days. While I ran approximately five kilometres that day, Jim Rankin has a career combined 4,200 kilometres covered on foot.

Considering the amount of treatment and care that Jim applies to his body, combined with thousands of hours of training and preparation, this strongly made me consider the capability of every person breathing right now.

Jim could have thrown in the towel any time, but instead of quitting he would simply prepare for the next event he was running in. Our society consists of people that are never able to reach their full potential, and the No. 1 reason for that is hard work. If running the distance from Hamilton to Los Angeles over a lifetime was easy, don’t you think everyone would do it? Working hard isn’t easy, but the payoff outweighs binge watching Netflix a million times over. Make an example of Jim, make your dreams reality by working hard every day.

Thomas Simonovic, Hamilton