The Maniac Blog

Where do I even begin?  This past several years has been nothing short of epic!  Although I’ve had every reason to be miserable and depressed, pining away the days crying in a bed somewhere… instead I’ve been happier than I ever thought possible.  Some fundamental life choices have made all the difference in that outcome.  And so have you. Once upon a time I was a self-employed IT Consultant in sunny (but super shady) South Beach.  Back then, I thought I was ‘happy’.  Yes, I was definitely “comfortable”, but that life was very different from what I know now as...

by: Paul C. David "The summer of 2008 hadbeen shaping up nicely. I was a newly minted Marathon Maniac, and I had my next several races picked out already. But things didn’t go according to plan. On July 1, I woke up early,kissed my wife good-bye, and got on my bike to ride to work. Six days later I woke up in the intensive care unit at Harborview Hospital in Seattle. I had been hit by a careless driver in a pickup truck. I had many broken bones and a collapsed lung and had lost the vision in one eye. Most seriously, I had suffered a traumatic brain injury,...

Short Book Article: "I am not sure who is responsible for this quote: “Bad news travels in threes.” Well, my “threes” came in 2008, while sitting in an oncologist’s office at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. First, the oncologist confirmed that I had leukemia and would soon require chemotherapy. Then, he informed me that the average life expectancy with my cell markers was five-to-seven years. What made this a “ three-fer”? He advised me to stop running for fear of rupturing my spleen or causing a hemorrhage. Following this advice—or rather, this directive— would...

A few weeks ago, we had our Club Exclusive Event in Sandy, Oregon, the Mt. Hood REVEL Race. It was two long days of chaos and fun at both the Expo and the race itself for Maniac and Fanatic members. This road race course was beautiful "...and took runners from the majestic Timberline Lodge at the base of Mt Hood to the charming towns and forested foothills of the mountain just outside of Portland, Oregon." Revel did an excellent job organizing and providing a great experience for everyone who went. Many runners were up before 3 AM to catch the morning bus...

This week we are proud to share the accomplishments of Mrs. Susan Smith’s Third Grade Class who ran 26.2 miles over the course of 8-weeks through our Flying Fanatics Program. All year, her third grade class at Centennial Elementary School have been following Ms. Smith’s husband’s goal of running a marathon in all 50 states in 1 year to reach Titanium level in the Marathon Maniacs. This past spring break Mr. Smith completed his final state with the Big Island International Marathon in Hilo, Hawaii; it was this momentous occasion that inspired the class to run their own marathon. This...