The March to DeMar: Race day

Sep. 24—Sunday marks the culmination of months of hard work and training, with the 44th annual running of the Clarence DeMar Marathon. We'll see you there.

Back in early May, we kicked off our four-and-a-half month-long training journey through the introduction of this weekly column. We've shared our ups and downs — James preparing for the half marathon, and Jack for the full 26.2 miles through Gilsum, Surry and Keene — as well as the local people involved in this community event that draws in hundreds of runners each year.

Jack began his March to DeMar by chatting with race director Alan Stroshine to get an overview of the event, and continued by turning to experts for practical advice on topics like optimal nutrition for marathon training. He also found great joy in the robust local running community, which manifests itself on DeMar race day with initiatives like the Super Seniors event.

On the more personal side, Jack shared why he's running the DeMar on what would have been his mom's 60th birthday, and in honor of his dad, who died of ALS. And throughout his training journey, Jack documented why his journalism career, and ensuing deadlines, helped hold him accountable while preparing for a marathon, and what he does to pass the time on long runs, even the really challenging ones.

James' focus was on promoting accessibility and breaking down the barriers that could be preventing our audiences from getting into the sport, which included sharing insight from a local healthcare professional on preventing injury due to his own experience with a past knee injury.

From there, it grew into being transparent about how his relationship with running has changed during training, sharing his story of using the sport to cope with mental health struggles and highlighting the local resources available for those itching to get started. Overall, James wanted to make it clear that really anybody can be a runner.

And now we're nearing the end of this journey.

If you're looking to cheer us on the big day, you can find a map of both the full and half-marathon courses with suggested cheering spots throughout the race at clarencedemar.com.

If you've been enjoying reading about our March to DeMar, don't worry — the finish line for the column isn't in sight quite yet. You'll hear from both of us once more following race day. Thank you for reading along, and for supporting us throughout these past few months.

James Rinker can be reached at jrinker@keenesentinel.com or at 355-8569. Follow him on Twitter @JamesRinkerKS. Jack Rooney can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1404, or jrooney@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @RooneyReports.