Fred Lebow, you inspire me!

Posted In: ChiRunning | Fitness | Me February 5th, 2011 divider No Comments »

At the suggestion of one of my running clients, I watched a documentary entitled “Run for Your Life“. What a great doc! It was entertaining, educational and most of all, rather inspirational.

Because of you Fred, I signed up for the NYC Marathon lottery this morning. Even if I waste my $11USD, it will go to a good cause. As people that know me know, I’m a big fan of the small and quaint races. But the story of this race simply took me by surprise. I’d like to experience it first-hand but as they say, lotteries are usually for fools.

Fred Lebow was a bit of everything from what I’ve been seeing and reading: a leader, a visionary, a dirty old man, an icon and a master manipulator. He was probably all of this and more. He started off in the garment business but really made his name as the founder and race director of the New York City Marathon.

This movie reinforces the mantra that in order to accomplish something great, you have to put yourself out there, believe in yourself and be a bit different. Those are things that I aspire to do on a daily basis.

Although he wasn’t a top level runner himself (it’s probably because he didn’t ChiRun!), he loved running and the running community and wanted to share his passion with the masses. Love him or hate him, he seemed to always do things from his heart. Sounds like anyone you know?

If you’re lacking motivation or simply want a good cry, I highly recommend this movie. It provides great insight into the popular racing boom and also includes a short American marathon history lesson.