Who Am I?

I am an avid runner and have been running since I was 15 years old. I began running low to medium distances while on my high school track team, running the 800 meter and 1600 meter races (I was a sub 5 miler and a 2 minute 800 runner). In addition to the track team, I also joined the cross country team. After high school I still wanted to run and decided to start doing road races. I have probably ran a couple hundred 5k races (16.29 PR)along with many 10k's as well. In 2009 I decided to step up my game and try to tackle my first marathon. I will be honest; the only reason I did this was because my father ran a few and I wanted to show him that I could do what he did. I trained poorly for my first one and regret it. If you are going to run a race, train like you want to win. I still continue to run marathons and other distances as well, and every race is a chance for me to better myself.
I started this blog to hopefully communicate with other runners and to shed any knowledge I may have about the sport that can help other runners. I believe running is the best sport and can be a great stress reliever. I encourage all runners to spread the word of our sport and show people why running is so good and why the community of runners has such great people. You can follow me on twitter @byrne1324 or find me on facebook- Shaun Byrne

Sunday, November 2, 2014

24 Hour Run Recap

     It is Saturday, November 1st at 5:00 pm. The sun is already starting to set, the clouds are rolling in and wind is whistling through the air. My cousin Chris and I start running on the track for what would be the start of our 24 hour fundraiser for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
     We both went into this blind, and by that I mean we had no clue how this would turn out. We were told by so many people that they would stop by and run some laps for us, but you know that old song and dance someone says they will come and they never show.  As we started we both agreed we would jog 1 mile together and then one of us would jump off and the other would start. Before we were done with our first mile people started to show.  My parents were first to arrive and I got to walk a mile with my father and a lap or so with my mom. Soon after that friend after friend was stopping by. Some just dropped by to drop off some coffee before they went to the bar, while some came and ran some laps with us.
     The weather was probably in the low 40's and expected to drop to the low 30's through out the night. Our good friend Tom (@tmcjr412) came in clutch early stopping by with a pop up tent. He and his wife even jumped on the track for an hour.  As it got colder in the night we had to wrap tarps around the pop up tent to make it warmer inside for Amanda who took it upon herself to stay all night and collect donations from anyone who stopped by.  I planned for people to come early in the night and early on Sunday. I figured who would want to come out in the dark, cold night when they could be at home in bed. I was completely wrong. Thanks to our friend Don (@donniebrunnin) who came by after and walked 6 miles with us. Oh and let me point out he was in a walking boot since he broke his foot while training for the Columbus Marathon. After he left our friend Scott showed up. He was coming from a Halloween party so we were not at all surprised to see him dressed up as He-Man. If your an 80's child you know exactly who that is. Scott walked a few laps before heading out. As he was heading out at 1:30 am our friend Shay showed up and stayed for 2 hours. He did an hour with Chris and a hour with me before leaving.  From 3:30 am until 6:00 am was the only time that no one was there.  Chris did an hour while I slept in my car and then I took the next hour and a half while Chris slept. As Chris started his next hour shift he got one lap in before our friend Anna showed up to relieve us for an hour. From that point on though people showed up until the very end. Tom showed back up early in the morning and stayed most of the day taking laps whenever he could.  At one point we had at least 5 different groups of people walking or running on the track. It was awesome to see all of our friends show up and donate. Most of them didn't show up empty handed either. 4 boxes and 4 XL cups of coffee, 2 XL hot chocolates, donuts, cupcakes, candy, and pizza were just a few things brought.  Even though there were so many people that came and donated and offered to run Chris and I never wanted to just over the track. Chris ended up running and walking 20 miles while I logged 35. There was around 140 collaborative miles logged from everyone who showed up. I am still amazed of all the support we got on the track and from people who donated through the fundraising page. I don't have a total yet of the amount, but I can tell you we did a great job.
Chris and I started together and we finished together at 4:00 pm today. We decided to stick to the 24 hour theme and not go until 5.  We already have some great idea's for next year and hope everyone will come show support.  It would be to long for me to list and thank everyone who helped, but I want you to know how much Chris and I appreciate your support.  Some people went really helped out a lot and I would like to thank them.
Amanda Byrne- She was the backbone of the operation today, and stayed through the whole thing.
Don Nehez- 6 miles in a walking boot.
Shay Kelly- 10 miles with us and showed up twice and brought coffee.
Kevin Doyle- Donated twice and showed up in a walking boot to show support even if he couldn't run
Mike Doyle- Showed up 3 times and brought us coffee, or hot chocolate every time
Charlie and Anna Dillon- both ran an hour and brought pizza's and coffee
Tom Mcquade- he was basically our 3rd person and he and his wife ran twice
Chris Smith- without him I wouldn't of been able to do this, he is a beginner runner and still logged 20 miles and worked his ass off.
There are so many others I can name from Alyssa Smith to Val and Aaron Long who took laps and brought stuff.  Or Justin Reardon who was our comic relief for most of the day.  I could basically name every person who came today, everyone was amazing.
THANK YOU ALL.  

One cool thing that also happened during the run was we met some people who told us about a half marathon run this group does throughout or neighborhoods. It's free and they do it a few times a year.  It was nice to meet them and a few of  us plan on running with them.

8 comments:

  1. Bummer, totally missed that! I am sorry, even if I ran a lot this week end, making a few laps would not have cost anything ... It seems you did great and I am amazed you sticked to the plan and finished alive! Congratulations for this achievement, I just hope I will be less stupid to forget next year.

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    1. Ya we missed you today!! Next year though, and thanks again for the donation

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  2. Congrats - that is an AMAZING accomplishment!

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  3. Congrats! That is so awesome and you should be so proud of yourself! Glad you had a great team to support you guys!

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    1. Thank you, the support we got from friends and family was unbelievable. We already are starting to plan next years

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  4. So very cool! Isn't it amazing how people step up to the plate when you least expect it? This is an amazing accomplishment-24 hours is a LONG time! Congrats!

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    1. I was amazed, my friends really can through for me and went above and beyond the call of duty. And not only them so many runners donated and are still donating. It made me think maybe the human race still has a chance

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