I had a huge amount of fun running the Holiday Half Marathon in Portland on December 12 with my wonderful partner Dr. Athena Konicki. I’ve a week to recover and then it’s week 1 of 12 as I begin training for the next race.

As the year began, I did not have a plan to run my first marathon in 2025, nor had I ever ran a half-marathon. As we rapidly approach the end of the year, I can happily prize 3 medals for 2 half-marathons and 1 full marathon. Including non-competitive runs (i.e. just myself, my Garmin watch and my muse) I’ve enjoyed running 6 half-marathons this year.

Surrounding yourself with inspirational people pushes you to keep learning and growing. Thank you to everyone who’s provided inspiration professionally, personally (such as my delightful family) and in my community in Portland.

Thank you particularly to Athena for motivating me to do what I never thought I could.

At risk of oversharing: I’m an haemophiliac, which adds some significant complications and challenges to achieving the limits of the human body’s capability (or at least my own). I share this to emphasize that some motivation and encouragement was indeed required on the road to Portland’s 2025 marathon.

Shout out to everyone who’s inspiring the people around them, both at home and at work.

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