A Tale of Two Runners

I'm going to take a few minutes, as painful as this will be to my ego, to turn this spotlight away from myself and on to two very special runners I met this past weekend.

Tracey and I - downtown Tulsa following
the Fleet Feet Black Friday 5K Run

I've known Tracey Posey online for a little while now, but this was my first opportunity to meet this amazing guy in person. Tracey, a single father with three kids, has lost over 80 (!) pounds this year, and though he just started running again seriously in September, he completed the Fleet Feet Black Friday 5K Run in under twenty-eight minutes! Let me say that again - running for fewer than two months, ran a sub-28:00 5K. In my book, that's pretty amazing - great job, Tracey! You can (and should) follow Tracey on Twitter at @tpoze - you won't regret it!

Claes and his running buddy Elton

Just as amazing (if not more so) is my brand new Twitter friend Claes Heiming. On the opposite end of the running spectrum from Tracey and I, Claes has been running since 1969. What's so amazing about him, you may ask? Well, Claes is amazing for three reasons:

1. He follows me on Twitter all the way from Sweden.

2. He, like me, runs with his dog - nothing better than that, they make the best training partners!

3. Claes is training to run in a 140 mile run in July 2013.

That is no typo, my friends! Claes will be running in a 140 mile race on July 17, 2013 - followed by a half marathon immediately after! That's some serious miles! Claes told me his target is 24-30 hours to complete the course - it gives me chills just thinking about it!

Claes is another runner you must definietely follow - follow his thoughts on training for this incredible run on  his blog and follow him on Twitter at @flexirun - well worth your time to do so!

And just in case you haven't had your fill of amazing runners for one day, check out my friend Becky's recap of her first 5K run in over 15 years - definitely a good read!

-Steve