Happy New Year!!

Once again, another great year, another year filled with phenomenal and amazing experiences shared with friends and family. This year the heat was on, and the humid, hot, and warm weather made it very challenging to put in too many miles, but I was very fortunate to keep injuries and able to still come and cross the 2100-plus official training miles mark. I was blessed to have a very successful running year with multiple great experiences, meet new friends, and the ability to run with family in multiple events early in the year. The InsaneRunning Wednesday group continues to have great success, with so many great runners joining week after week. In addition to the Cisco morning gym Running group. Similar to last year, the Saturday runs in the later part of the year became the main training run for the InsaneRunning training group, tackling Umstead100 and some of the crew and 111pacers.

Here is the year in a nutshell,

1. Decent mileage completed this year, with over Strava 2,282 miles and over 145,850 ft in elevation gain. (About the same as last year)
2. I completed my 5th 100-mile event to enter the 500-mile club. Very special for me to have my daughter pace me on my sixth and last loops to complete the 100. I already signed up for my next one in 2026, in my sixth attempt, on my way to the 1000 U100 Club.
3. I feel very blessed to have so many great friends and family who, in one way or another, support and encourage me to continue this healthy activity/sport.
4. Continued with the previous yearly challenge of running 13.1 miles at least once a week. Over 500 weeks and counting, just prior to U100. An amazing year for 500ths.
5. Running with my daughter and Calvin’s 1st marathon. And if that was not enough, they completed the challenging but fun Dopey Challenge.

I am very blessed that 2025 was another successful running year. The training journey and the process is as important or even more than meeting a specific target, pace, or goal. So many miles with good old friends and family, but also new friends from other running Clubs (TUFF), Run Smart, Strava, and Cisco Running Club.

I am very grateful for all the support I received from family, peers, co-workers, the medical community, FB & Strava friends, pacers, running groups, and running clubs. They all provided the energy, advice, and encouragement to continue running and improving in my personal life.

For our InsaneRunning group, so many PRs, 1st times 5k, 10k, Half Marathons, Marathons, and even Ultramarathoners. Kaleel completed multiple 100 mile events this year while also tackling bravely Tahoe200. Jamie did an amazing performance at Boston and completing his 6th major. Arun tackled his second Derby 50k. Chad is getting fast and once again almost signed up for U100. Alex tackled Umstead 100, his 1st 100 mile event, coming in well under 23 hours in brutal warm weather. Already mentioned my daughter completing multiple Tri’s in addition to Dopey, but also qualifying for the Half Ironman Championships in Nice, France. Calvin completed his 1st full Marathon in January and paced me once again for the 7th loop at Umstead 100.

Once again, I want to say thanks to my friends and family who, in one way or another, provided their support and patience while I continued with my insane running!

Happy New 2026!

This coming year, we are ramping up the miles already in preparation for Umstead 100, once again going for under 24 hours. I am also looking forward to go cheer my daughter as she tackles the Half Ironman Championship later in 2026. There are many other events and additional insane running. Stay tuned for what will be another fantastic year, filled with challenges and adventures.

---