LIFE -VS- MARATHON

What we can learn, and why you should approach life as you would running a marathon

A short thread

[cont…]
Lets start with the origins of The Marathon

In 490 BC when the Greeks defeated the Persians

A messenger named Philippides ran to communicate the victory from the Battle Of Marathon

Covering 26.2 miles to Athens without stopping

Yelling "we have won" upon arrival

[cont…]
This devastatingly hard task caused him to collapse and die.

So when the Olympics first started in 1896 they of course looked to Greek history for event inspiration

Oh, and as a display of the times, women were not allowed to officially compete in the marathon

[cont…]
Fast forward to today

Men, women, seniors, those in wheelchairs, handicapped, blind, everyone

Are fortunately able to compete and participate

I saw all of these when I ran Chicago

Below is Shalane Flanagan who won NYC a few years ago, yelling "Fuck Yes" at the end

[cont…]
Now the fun part - The speeds

I never realized how fast the best people were

Remember, you are running for 3-5 hours depending on your speed

So I assume for 26.2 miles no one is really running faster than maybe a 6 minute mile or so

[cont…]
Turns out we are alive to witness the best marathon runner EVER

Eliud Kipchoge

He just broke the 2 hour marathon

Which equates to a 4:34 pace per mile

Mind. Blown.

Youtube “Breaking 2” if you want to watch the Nat Geo documentary

[cont…]
Ok so what did I learn from my experience running a more "standard" aka slow marathon in Chicago?

I see so many correlations between running a marathon and living your life

Here is what I learned:

[cont…]
1) What you can't do today, you can in a year.

You can't just stand up & go run a marathon

Think:

- training, and starting slow

- buying the right equipment

- learning how to recover

- building mental toughness

- being patient

Apply this to your business & life

[cont…]
2) Expand your experiences

Get outside your bubble, you can learn from anything and everything around you

- Car designers don't only look at cars

- Fighters don't only learn 1 style

- Investors don't put all their money in 1 place

- Companies don't sell only 1 sku

[cont…]
3) Push yourself in life, invite adversity

I believe that we should push ourselves in this life

Commit to doing something next year that you absolutely can't do today

You'll gain confidence, strength, and you'll be a more interesting person

[cont…]
Hopefully you've learned about not only the history, but also the benefits of running a marathon

And if a marathon isn't for you, what is your marathon equivalent?

Think about it, choose yours, go get it.

Thanks for reading 💪
You can follow @MattRumancik.
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