Why I ran my first marathon

I have wanted to start a running blog for sometime now. I thought that training for my second marathon would be the perfect time to start my new blog. I first want to dedicate this blog to my friend George. He is the main reason why I started on this journey.
Hello! Greetings from The Netherlands. Can you believe that it is already almost February? Time seems to be going so fast. I'm sure most of you know that I am training for my first marathon. For those of you that don't... I will be running my first marathon on Sunday, February 1 in Apeldoorn here in the Netherlands. The training has been really hard with all the rain, snow (which is not common here in Tilburg), cold temps, and brutal winds. It has also been a very emotional time for me. Many of you know that my grandfather passed away in September followed by the death of my friend's son George in October. Tony and I were very close with George. Really even to this day words cannot express how sad I feel. I still think about him everyday! Being so far away from both family and friends I really felt helpless. I turned to running. I dedicated myself to running a marathon...I called it Running for George.

RUNNING FOR GEORGE
"This last October my good friend's son passed away. George was the son of Chuck and Gretchen who live in Shreveport. In George's 12 years he touched people of all ages anywhere he went. Tony and I have visited Shreveport the last few summers and spent lots of time with George and his family. George was an avid hockey player and his dream was to be a NHL goalie. There is no doubt George would have achieved his goal if given the chance.
George had many dreams and one of his hopes was to have high school hockey in Shreveport. At this time the city of Shreveport and the Cloutier family are raising money to build an ice rink in his memory called "George's Pond."
Being so far away I wanted to do something to help raise funds. On February 1, 2009 I will be running my first marathon in George's honor. It has been a big motivating factor in all the miles I have run during my training. Please help me in making George's dream come true. Thank you from the bottom of my heart",
Jamie (taken from an email sent before my marathon)

I look forward to all the challenges that I will face in my upcoming training. See you on the road!