Ten Entrepreneurial Lessons From the World of (Ultra)Marathons

August 28, 2023 by Stephen Hallgren in Life, nonfractional, Races

If you couldn’t tell, I’m obsessed with running. Throughout the years, running has been my mental lifeline, particularly in some of my darkest moments. Running has also brought about some of the most impactful ideas and lessons I’ve been able to apply to life. While running shorter distances are powerful for freeing my mind to ideas, I’ve found that the longer distances are what have pushed me beyond the normal limits of mind and body.

Race: 2020 Upstate Classic 5k, Half-Marathon, Marathon

November 19, 2020 by Stephen Hallgren in Races

While there hasn’t been a lot of races this year locally, not every race has been cancelled in the area. In fact, we saw a brand new running event form this year called the Upstate Classic. The Upstate Classic took place at the Altamont Fairgrounds and included a 5k, half-marathon and full marathon. This is probably the last organized and fully timed local race for the 2020 season. 35+ Nark Running & Strength runners showed up and joined 1000+ other runners to close out our running season with a grand finale…

Book: 26 Marathons

May 16, 2020 by Stephen Hallgren in Reviews, Books

One might think that reading about 26 marathons would get boring, but that’s definitely not the case with Meb Keflezighi’s book 26 marathons. A quick and easy read, Meb takes the reader through a fast paced journey of his career and the lessons that has shaped his life through each of the 26 marathons he ran…

Book: Running Home - A Memoir

January 27, 2020 by Stephen Hallgren in Reviews, Books

Memoirs, especially running memoirs, seem to more often than not, revolve around the success of the writer and their running. As if greatness is all they’ve ever known, or if everyone did what they did, they’d be amazing too. Running Home is not one of those books. As the chapters unfold, I kept wondering when I’d get to the part about running, but with each chapter I became more and more engrossed in the narrative of Katie’s life. Her writing went deep into my own heart and put words to my own inward battles…

Book: Running Outside the Comfort Zone

December 12, 2019 by Stephen Hallgren in Reviews, Books

Right from the beginning of the book it is clear that Susan’s writing exudes a raw authenticity in how she presents herself and her own journey in running. While this and other running books have been super inspiring, I feel like I’ve been able to connect on a different level with this particular book. One of the questions that Susan asks herself is, “am I a real runner?” This question is one that I many of use fellow runners grapple with. Our digitally connected society makes it so easy to compare our own abilities and bodies with those around us and frankly the majority of us will always be able to find someone better than ourselves…

Race: 2018 Mohawk Hudson River Marathon

October 07, 2018 by Stephen Hallgren in Races

The Mohawk Hudson River Marathon was my second marathon within the same year. While my first marathon was less than optimal, I had a much better experience the second time around. I really enjoyed that this was a local race in my hometown. I was able to take an Uber to the starting line and finished in downtown Albany, NY. Because it was a local race I saw some friends that I didn’t know were running the race.

The Mohawk Hudson River marathon is a long standing race and put on well. The course is mostly downhill, but the last 6 miles are relatively flat and destroyed me. I hadn’t trained as well for this one as my first one in Martha’s Vineyard and I could tell. I was hoping to hit under 4 hours, but missed that goal. The amount of time that I was over my goal corresponded nicely to the last 6 miles I could hardly run 🤦‍♂️…

Race: 2018 Martha's Vineyard Marathon

May 19, 2018 by Stephen Hallgren in Races

The Martha’s Vineyard Marathon was the first marathon that I have ever run. I was originally training to run a marathon in the Fall of 2018, but my training partner suggested we get one in during the Spring as a test run before our Fall marathon.

The race as a whole is a great, well put together race. The course has beautiful scenery and really highlights the best of Martha’s Vineyard. The main problem with the race is that it occurs during the Spring and presents a potentially mixed bag of weather. When I ran, it was cloudy, a bit chilly and during half of the race it rained. This made for a miserable, and not so scenic or enjoyable run. I really wanted to run this again, but wasn’t sold on making it a priority because of the possibility of not getting good weather again…