I ran a marathon.

It’s still weird to say, even four days later. Six months ago, I don’t think anyone would have thought I’d be running in a marathon. I’d have been surprised if someone told me I could run more than a mile at a single time. And now, not only have I run a marathon, I met every goal I had set.

I ran a total of 366 miles over the nearly 15 weeks I trained. That’s over 60 hours of pure running itself, which doesn’t include the hours spent stretching and prepping for my runs. Crossing the finish line 4:56.33 after I first started my run, I narrowly beat my goal of coming in under five hours. Having raised nearly $1,700 on my website and a little extra in offline donations, I not only nearly doubled the goal I set on my site, I more than tripled what I thought I could realistically hope to raise for SCNO by doing this.

And the truth is, the thing that sticks out most to me looking back at the course of my running has nothing to do with any of that—it’s the tremendous support I received not just from friends and family but from the community around me and people I didn’t even know but that were simply interested in seeing me succeed. Going into my training, I underestimated just how difficult it’d be to do this on my own. What kept me going was the genuine outpouring of support that met me, whether it was a donation, a comment on my Facebook, or sharing the news of what I was trying to do with others.

To top it all off, I could not have wished for the run to go better. The weather looked as if it might be a trouble with dark skies and the streets already soaked from early morning rains. But the rain held off and the cool breeze was the perfect temperature for a 26.2 mile stroll. My right leg had been sore all week leading into the race and was causing me trouble in even my short runs. I’d been resting and icing all week, and finally, on Saturday the pain had gone. And my plan for the run worked out just as I had set out in my head, not needing to take a brief walking break until the seventeenth mile, which I had hoped would keep me on pace to break the five hour mark.

Running a marathon is a pretty surreal experience once you’re actually doing it. You run and run throughout your training but it’s just no comparison. There’s no real good way to explain it without having someone experience it for themselves, but there’s just something special about the atmosphere when thousands of people are surround you and an entire community comes together around a single event, lining the course with signs, cheers, and encouragement that genuinely makes a difference at mile 21 when you’ve gone so far but know you still have an hour of running ahead of you. I just remember having nearly finished the first mile and turning onto Green Street (which for those non U of I people, is the main street in campus town) and just being stunned—it was such a cool sight to see literally thousands of people ahead of me and thousands more behind me, covering every inch of arguably one of the busiest streets on campus and being right in the middle of it. Crossing the finish line was the icing on the cake.

For so long, it was “I’m going to run a marathon” followed by a brief hesitation, almost as if to let it hit me and sink in. Finally, it’s “I ran a marathon”—no hesitation, no doubt. My campaign to aid a nonprofit community that needs it and provide a new kind of service to organizations was more successful than I could have asked for and that’s thanks to you, the readers who helped push my story and keep me going. Thank you, truly, for helping me accomplish this goal I had set out to do.

And now, over the next few days and with time running out, I’ll make my last few appeals to readers—there’s still time left! There are five days left on the fundraiser page’s timeline and five days left to make your contribution to the campaign and achieve true impact on a community that needs your help. I worked so hard for so long to make this happen and now that it’s coming to an end, I think I’m finally starting to realize what a difference this can make.

Now’s your chance. Visit my fundraiser page today and contribute to the campaign today—every donation makes a difference. Post my website, www.jordyruns.com, on your Facebook, your Twitter, your G-Chat status, or any other place you possibly can. Let’s help spread the cause.

Well, it’s race day.

I woke up a bit ago and all I keep saying to myself is, “I’m running a marathon. I’m running a marathon. I’m actually about to do this.” I’m thinking it might not actually hit me until I’ve started the race but in any case, in just under an hour and a half, I’ll be leaving the start line for a casual five-hour jog.

Hopefully, not even some well-timed rain this morning will keep me from finishing up the race and crossing the finish line. I’ve been training for four months and it’s almost surreal that it’s actually the day. I’m actually about to run this marathon.

I can’t promise how soon I’ll be able to post again or if it’ll even be today—my hope is that I can get an update out today and then a more in-depth one tomorrow. I did want to thank everyone who has supported me along the way again—I’ve raised almost $1,500 which is well beyond anything I ever thought I’d raise. But more important than the money has been the support I’ve received from family, friends, and even the community, just pushing me along and giving me the encouragement I’ve needed. I’d especially like to thank my mom, dad, and three brothers (even if they are crazy) who have been there every step of the way helping in any way possible, as well as my bros Ben, Aaron, and Max, who have had to live with me all semester talking (and perhaps occasionally complaining) about this marathon and have been great support throughout my training.

Wish me luck!

Everyone can get involved in the campaign in one way or another. As I run, you can support each mile I run and the progress I’ve made in different ways. Every dollar donated pushes me one step closer to my goal and enables the Champaign County nonprofit community. Each time a new person reads the campaign blog or hears about what I’m doing, the impact I can create compounds and grows.

Donate. SCNO has a long list of goals and aspirations and each helps to develop the nonprofit community in a new way. Even the smallest donation creates a big impact.

Spread the Word. Post www.jordyruns.com on your Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, Pinterest, and any other social media platform you’re using. Follow the campaign on twitter and tweet your followers about what I’m trying to do. Like our Facebook fan page. You get the picture—do what you can to spread the word and know that each additional pair of eyes helps SCNO in a new and unique way.

Every bit of help matters. Join me in fighting for nonprofit support and aid today.

I’ve mentioned it a few times over the past week and it’s finally out–the Champaign News-Gazette story on my campaign ran this morning. I had no clue it’d be their front page story on their website!

To read the article you can simply visit their homepage or just go directly to the story by clicking here.

We’re just two days away! I can hardly believe it but in two days I’ll be running a marathon. We’re getting down to the wire–now is your chance to contribute to the campaign! Visit my fundraiser page and give back today. Every dollar counts.

Check back in for more coverage of the campaign over the next couple days!

I don’t blame anyone and everyone for asking me the most obvious question just a few days before the marathon. I guess it’s a good thing—people know what I’m doing so awareness has clearly been rising. Inevitably, a few times a day, I hear a seemingly simply question—“are you ready?”

And I’m not complaining. Again, it’s a natural question and the reality is, I made the campaign public and have hoped for awareness. The real problem isn’t the asking, it’s that if I’m being entirely honest, I don’t have a good answer.

I want to say that I feel completely ready and I think in the back of my head I might be. But the reality is my last (and longest) run ended in the hospital and even if I’ve run 21 miles before, there’s still an extra hour or so of running to come once I reach that mark again. I’ve been working hard now for four months and I’ve met most of my goals—now it’s just time for race day.

I’ve been spending the week focusing on making sure I get the sleep and nutrition I need to get me ready for Saturday morning. I’ve been keeping my legs warm with small runs and I’ll leave for my final training run of one mile tomorrow morning. It’s been a long journey and I can’t say that it’ll be sad to shed the long runs from my schedules, but in a lot of the ways, it will just be weird. I’ve grown to enjoy the running and it’s become such a part of my weekly schedule, it’ll be odd to not have it there.

Either way, we’re moving into the last two days before the race and I’m sitting here trying to think of how best to answer that simple question—am I ready? Of course, there are a few things sticking out that have me worried. But I think it’s important for me to recognize that I am ready. I’ve been working for too long now to go in with a bad mindset and it’d go against everything I’ve learned through my training—running a marathon is a mental battle in my opinion far more than it is a physical one. I can’t lose the mental edge now.

I’ll be posting the next few days as updates come in and tomorrow I hope to post the link to the newspaper article from the Champaign News-Gazette. We’re in the very last few days and now’s your chance to give back—make a difference and have impact community wide by contributing to the campaign via my fundraiser page. Every donation and every dollar counts.

Look back tomorrow for more news from the campaign!