Sideline Stories: Daniel Norwood, Maine Marathon Running Ambassador
Maybe your stomach feels like it’s in knots, full of anxiety and anticipation. Perhaps you’ve been training for months on end and the beast inside is eager to claw its way out and go! Soon you feel yourself swept into the flowing river of bodies as the crowd begins to gather, all headed to the starting line. As you inch closer and closer, everyone’s excitement and nerves radiate off one another as you stand there waiting for the moment a bullhorn goes off. As you wait you can’t help but wonder to yourself, what am I doing here? How did I end up at the starting line of a road race?
How does one wake up one day and say you know what I feel like doing? I feel like getting really gross and sweaty and using all my energy to run a race until my legs are exhausted and I am out of breath. Not every journey begins like that but every journey does have a beginning. You might say that my running journey began with a rejection; I didn’t make the Sanford High School baseball team; a sport I had been playing all my life since t-ball. With nothing to do and the recommendation of my PE teacher and friends, I found myself running the 800 and 1600 for the track team. Others might say that my running adventure began with my first official road race, the Healthy High 10k put on by the University of Maine’s Student Wellness Resource Center where I found that I could actually push myself. Where I truly believe that my passion and commitment to running began was when one of my best friends asked me to train with them so that they could impress someone they had started dating. They remembered my prior running experience and hoped I could help them. Well, with a little training and a bucket of luck we set a goal of running the John Andrews Memorial 5k. Race day came and I was a little excited, I was eager to see how I did. I remember the feeling of power in my legs but the lack of air in my lungs throughout the race. I finished with a time of around 27 minutes and I knew that it wasn’t my best, that I could do better. I was filled with the knowledge that I had the strength to go further but not the skill or training.
When that air horn blows and echoes across the crowd, the excitement that surrounds you is indescribable. You know you are about to embark on something new and challenging, testing you as you push your mind and body to limits yet unknown. The anticipation of every turn and obstacle that you may face and overcome waiting somewhere out there on the road. No race is complete without coming upon a few friendly faces along the way, old and new, some even sharing words of encouragement as they pass you or you pass them. Part of the excitement about running is that even though the idea of it seems so simple, you never know who or what you’ll find at the top of the hill or around the next bend.
From the moment I finished that 5k was determined to do better. I found various local races across York and Cumberland County. The Memorial Vets 5k, Strive for 5k and the St. Max 5k Run/Walk. Soon with an increased race calendar and added training runs in between I found myself doing pretty ok, slowly improving and even placing in my age group for races like Caring Unlimited’s Community 5k or even placing 1 st overall in the AGC Contractors Trail race. I kept setting new and different goals for myself, like always finish strong no matter how tired I was or don’t go out too fast or keep a consistent pace throughout. Soon I found myself wanting more, more of that adrenaline rush at the end of a race, more of a challenge to push myself beyond what I knew I could achieve. The excitement of uncovering my mental emotional and physical strength found me signing up for 10k’s like the Great Osprey 10k in Freeport where I placed in my 1st 10k race ever or the iconic Trails to Ales or historic Beach 2 Beacon. I found that running in a fall rain, like I did during the Great Pumpkin 10k, was much different than running in a summer rain. Running Jimmy, the Greeks 4 miler in January where I could see my breathe, was a much different experience than running the Blue Lobster 4 miler in August where I felt cocooned in my own sweat. Each race I ran provided new and exciting experiences and even more friendships. The more I ran, the more I found that I couldn’t get enough.
The last mileage sign has come and gone and you know that the finish line is within reach. Sweat is pouring down your forehead at this point, your muscles are sore but ready for the last minute dash across the timing strip. Your head is held high taking in all around you and for the briefest moment, before you give it your all, you can feel it, bliss. A smile spreads across your lips and it is in the moment where you feel it, deep down in your guts, that you are a runner and you let your legs take you where they may, across the finish line.
Where does it end, or better yet, does it ever end? That want for more excitement and adrenaline. Does it stop when you run the Portland 10 miler? Perhaps you find your peace running the Old Port Half Marathon? No? Maybe you have to run the Arundel Conservation Half Marathon or jump into the Pumpkinman Running Festival and run their 15 miler? My running journey has taken me not only across the State of Maine and the Country but the globe, running Marathons, yes I couldn’t help myself, in places like Chicago and Berlin. I am excited that after running the relay with some of my best friends and the half last year, that my first Marathon in the State of Maine will be THE Maine Marathon. I never could’ve guessed that one little 5k would find here years later but that’s the exciting part about running, you never know where your journey will take you along the way. Running is such a great sport in as each person’s journey is truly what they want to make it and only you get to determine what and where your finish line is.