Running Heroes

Role models. When you aspire to improve in your sport, it only makes sense to have a few people to look up to, right? Distance runners might follow Meb Keflezighi. Track stars love Flo-Jo.

Maybe where I'm going wrong here in trying to run a sub 2 half marathon is not connecting with the usual heroes...

Here are my top 5, in no particular order:

Julie Culley. Not a household name, just someone I ran track with in high school. She competed in the 5k in the 2012 Olympics. She runs her 3.1 miles literally twice as fast as I do. Perhaps I should have spent more time following her training plan instead of goofing off at practice.

Quicksilver. Although X-Men's Quicksilver is preferred, Avenger's Quicksilver will do in a pinch.

Forrest Gump. I'm taking liberty in assuming everyone has seen the movie. If things like paid employment were not important to me, I'd take off tomorrow to go run across the country.

Ridiculously photogenic guy. He's the reason I am all too aware when there's a photographer on the half marathon course. Maybe my new goal should be to get a photo at my next race that's even half as good as his.

Homestar Runner. New Strong Bad emails were the highlight of my Mondays during my early years in the workforce. Rumor has it they are making a comeback, which means I've got something else to distract me from actually going out running myself. 

If you've got a bunch of hours to waste in a day, catch up on all of the old SB Emails. Here's a good one:

And then when you're done with those, I recommend Teen Girl Squad (TGS). And if you'd like to try your hand at a game, go for Peasant's Quest.  

Who are your running heroes? Let me know in the comments!