John’s Blog: I’m crazy!

With the launch of our new website, our team decided to add more content and interaction with our running community… So with my first blog post as the founder of Millennium Running, the pressure is on!!    I ponder whether my first blog should be a ‘mission statement” for Millennium Running?    Should this blog be so meaningful that it inspires others to start running?   Should I tell flash backs from my running career?  Like my glory days of winning a high school state or national championships… Earning my first All-American honor at the University of Michigan… Adventures from traveling to European track meets… The feeling of putting on my U.S.A. singlet for the first time… Dealing with injury…   Coaching a sub 4-minute miler… Running my first marathon?   Or maybe, I can just be funny…?”

All these and more will likely come up in my new career as a blogger… but for this very first blog, I’m going let everyone inside my head!!

I’m CRAZY… I’m nuts… loony… obsessive compulsive… I stretch in public when I’m sore…   I pinch my belly and say I’m chubby…  I feel guilty and turn into Oscar the Grouch after 2 days of not running…  I run past my house until my watch tells me to stop at a round number…  I give a friendly honk when I drive by other runners…  I try to eat healthy, but over indulge in slow churn peanut butter cup ice cream…. I have a running bumper sticker on my car…   I have a pile of worn out running shoes in my closet that I won’t part with…  I solve all my problems during a run- unfortunately I forget them by the time I finish it… I procrastinate to get my run done when it is raining outside… I think I have the right away and cars should move over for me when I run on the side of the road…  I know the exact mile mark in every direction from my house… I have race shirts that are almost 2 decades old in my dresser…  I ran 30 miles on my 30^th birthday…  I need a medium french vanilla Dunkin Donuts coffee before a race… I get wicked chaffing inside my thighs when I wear shorts for the first time in the spring… I feel guilty when I go for a run instead of rushing home to see my family, I sing out loud when I run with my I-pod despite being a terrible singer… I drink too much beer and not enough water… I have a lucky pair of socks, but they stink pretty bad now that they are pushing 10 years old…  I cover the display on the treadmill with a towel so I don’t keep looking at the time… I get nervous before a race… My toenails look terrible…

But when I finish my run, all is right in my world!

It is with the notion that I am a crazy runner – perhaps a lot like you…  It is a part of my life and perhaps with its influence we all will live a long and healthy life one step at a time!

– John Mortimer, Millennium Running – Founder

About The Author

John Mortimer

John Mortimer is the owner and founder of Millennium Running. His extensive running background began in Londonderry, NH where he was a 12-time NH high school state champion. His running career took him to the University of Michigan where he became a 7-time NCAA All American and was honored as a member of the U of M Hall of Fame. John ran professional runner for Adidas and Reebok, and represented the United States on two occasions as member of Team USA. Before moving back to his home state of New Hampshire to start Millennium Running, John spent 10 years as a college coach at Harvard, Boston College and the University of Kentucky. He currently lives in Bedford, NH with his wife Jennifer and two sons, Jack and Liam.