An event of thanks

In just six days, Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon Weekend will begin.

Being part of Team Myles 2014 has been rewarding and it goes without saying that many people deserve thanks for getting us to this point.

Personally it has been an interesting journey. I have been amazed at how fast the training has increased my running pace. Key mentors in Jeff Nearing, and our fearless Team Myles leaders Devin Sherrington and Jason Davis of 360fit, have kept the motivation levels high and made us accountable to the training schedule. On top of that there have been hours of running research and reading leading to this moment.

Many others have provided inspiration including the other Team Myles members and mentors. Friends and colleagues including: John Deans, a five-time Iron Man, and my ECO Kayaking Guide In Training friend; Charlie Stacey, a great friend in NL, who sends along inspirational notes after reading this blog; work colleagues Sheryl Grant, Aaron Legge & Nancy Cook who have given great advice; my sister Jennifer for the texts of encouragement; my mother Sandra for her e-mails and dad Pleman for the calls; the many in the Twitterverse who have replied and retweeted support; and those from other social media channels that have commented and sent notes. With any list there may be some names missing so I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all who have helped along the way.

And of course, I could not have done this without the support of my beautiful wife Charlene. She has supported the many training hours and had to listen to my whining from the aches, pains and injuries. She herself has progressed amazingly since January, moving from run-walk intervals to non-stop running sessions.

I love you sweetheart. Thanks for the support. Our fitness kick will ensure a long healthy life together.

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And thanks to Chris Larsen, Sue Newhook and Gina Brown of Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon for recruiting me to Team Myles. It's been a honour to be part of the team. Special thanks to the Team Myles sponsors as well: 360fit, Centric Health LifeMark, Delta Barrington & Delta Halifax, iRun, Recharge With Milk & Breathing Space Yoga Studio.

And thanks to the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon staff, volunteers and sponsors who make race weekend possible. There are thousands and each of you deserve a round of applause. Pulling off the  Doctors Nova Scotia Youth Run, the Johnson 5K, the GoodLife FITNESS 10K, the Recharge with Milk Half Marathon & the Scotiabank Full Marathon takes tens of thousands of volunteer and staff hours. It's a great event for Halifax and Nova Scotia as a whole.

Thanks also to all those who have raised money for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for local charities. It's not too late to donate to a team - click here to do so.

Be proud of the accomplishments. Best wishes to all of the runners. May you reach your personal best.

See you at the finish line.