My son in law Weston ran a marathon this weekend. Yeah. Let that sink in: he intentionally ran for 26.2 miles. Yikes, I can’t even imagine that.

I’m not a fan of running. I enjoy exercise. I enjoy a nice hike. I just don’t enjoy running. Perhaps it’s the way it makes my knees hurt. Perhaps it’s the effect it has on my back. Perhaps it’s the fact that I prefer not running over running.. who can say for sure? The point is that my son in law does enjoy it, so he ran the Portland Marathon.

Now 26 miles is a pretty good run, but then they add on the extra .2 it all has to do with the distance needed to incorporate a start at Windsor Castle and a finish at the royal box at the Olympic Stadium in London for the 1908 Olympic Games. The extra bit was put on to make things work out right and somehow that became the standard.

In our lives we sometimes do something very difficult, like run 26 miles, then we need to push on a bit more to reach the finish. We call on the aid of friends, accountability partners, and sponsors. We push hard toward the goal and with the help of our support network, hopefully we get it done. So the next time you find yourself 26 miles from where you started, keep in mind that you may only need to go another two tenths of a mile to get finished. Lace up your sneakers and…

—Rise Up!!