I’m pleased to announce that I’ve deepened my commitment to iRunFar.com and the trail running community that I love. Last Friday, I left my law practice so that I could devote all of my time to iRunFar and other running-related pursuits.
While you may not notice many changes in the short term (I’ll be busy moving from the Washington, DC area to just outside Yosemite National Park), I hope that by this summer you’ll notice an increase in the depth of the articles published on iRunFar. At the same time, I anticipate that iRunFar will be providing more insight into the people, races, and places that make out sport so wonderful. As always, I’d love to know what questions you’d like answered and what content you’d like to see more of on iRunFar. (Feel free to contact me directly.)
I guess now would be a good time to make the first announcement that I am also now offering coaching services. I hope you’ll also be seeing… or reading more of my work in other venues going forward as I try to develop my writing career. Be on the lookout for “running-related” events brought to you by iRunFar.com further down the trail. In the mean time, I’ll be touring the West from mid-June through late-August and maybe well into September. (more on that soon, too…)
While I’ve considered this move over the past few months, I’ve occasionally pondered how I got to this point. Here are a few of the highlights:
- August 1992 – I doubt my ability to make my high school’s freshman soccer team. Neighbor John Parker (a 2:28 marathoner) suffers through 2.5 slow miles with me as I consider the idea of joining the cross country team. A few days later, Theresa, his wife, encourages me through a 4 miler. Having survived both runs, I decide to go out for the cross country team. I am the slowest member of the team… by far.
- August 1992-May 2000 – I spend 24 seasons competing for the Hopewell Valley Central HS and Haverford College cross country and track teams. Did you know I spent 6 collegiate seasons competing as a sprinter and hurdler?
- February 2001 – I run my first marathon – finishing third behind stud ultrarunner/friend Michael Wardian and some random dude.
- Fall 2001 – I wait on a street corner in DuPont Circle, DC for a random man to pick me up at 5 am to drive out to Shenandoah Mountains for a run. It was my first run with the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club.
- April 2002 – I finish my first ultra – the Promise Land 50k.
- November 2002 – After entering law school in August 2002, I launch a personal blog to keep friends and family informed while I balance work, school, running, and not much else.
- July 2006 – While studying for the Utah bar exam, I kill time by buying the iRunFar.com domain, creating a very basic website, and contemplating what I’d like a future website to look like. iRunFar.com goes nowhere for years… but today’s iRunFar very closely resembles those early sketches.
- December 2006 – I decide that I don’t want to subject my non-running friends to an increasing number of running posts on my personal blog. I launch a personal running blog on blogspot.com.
- October 2007 – In preparation for an interview with a Runner’s World writer, I collect my thoughts on choosing and training for a first ultramarathon. This leads me to publish an article on each subject and a decision for me to change iRunFar from a personal running blog to a more general publication.
- February 2008 – The head of La Sportiva North America comments on the blog. This really gets things rolling.
- August 2008 – iRunFar moves from blogspot to iRunFar.com. I attend my first Outdoor Retailer show and cover the TransRockies Run.
- September 2008 – Running Times trail editor Adam Chase gets my first running article – on the JFK 50 – published.
- March/April 2009 – I cover the Marathon des Sables. I return from Morocco at peace with my decision to leave my life as a lawyer to pursue my passion.
- May 2009 – I start my new life!
