A while back I was told by some therapists that I had a clinical depression. For some reason they we’re all quick to suggest I start taking medication. I’m kind of against that type of thing so I thought that was a terrible idea. Of course a few months later I found myself medicating with food. I was eating an entire jug of ice cream every day. Yuk! Long story short I went about fixing the problem the old school way, by eating properly and exercising.
On January 1st of this year I stopped medicating myself with junk food and started getting active. I started running with my friend Rick. At first we we’re running for the exercise. Eventually we decided to set a goal of running the half marathon together. We registered for the race and started training. We’d go out rain or shine every second day. At first I couldn’t run for more than about 15-20 minutes at a time even at a slow pace. With Rick’s help I got stronger and faster and the depression bullshit slowly faded away.
Fast forward to today. Rick and I just finished our first half marathon! W00t! We had a great time at the race. Who knew that running with 6000 people could be so fun?! Unfortunately Rick had crazy stomach problems during the race so he didn’t do as well as he would have liked. He was running for his life to find a toilet several times during the race… As a result Rick’s time doesn’t reflect his mad running skillz.
Rick came 1092 out of 5834 people and had a time of 1h 51m 29s. I came in 1111 out of 5834 people and had a time of 1h 51m 42s.
Here are some photos my sister shot during the event.
Rick and I are going to do the full marathon next year…
Thanks for the support Rick!
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Vancouver Half Marathon 2007 Full Results
Vancouver Marathon 2007 Full Results
Comments
14 responses to “Vancouver Marathon 2007”
Hey Duncan – Congrats on getting that half marathon done, and glad to hear you’re feeling healthier. Would love to go running with you sometime, so if client work brings me out there (I do have a client in Vancouver) I’ll be sure to bring my gear…
Hey Duncan,
Glad to hear you’re feeling better. I’ve never been severely depressed but exercise has always helped to elevate my mood.
Congrats on the run!
Proud of you bro….
I love you soooo much!!
RBR
This made me weepy….
nice nice
many things happen to us in life to cause personal set backs or sadness .. the trick in life is what you do with this sadness or set back to cause a shift in your perspective.. if you look at all of life as a series of long lessons you realize that you can change.. years ago someone hurt me very badly.. it took me years to recover from the hurt.. slowly through exercise meditation and reflection and also helping others i grew and changed..
you realize .. at a certain point.. its just a life..
better make it a good one..
i am grateful for mentors.. people like peter thomas john assaraf from the SECRET FAME.. that came into my life as friends and taught me to NOT allow negative in my life..
duncan.. you have always been a FANTASTIC athelete and a person thought of as a genius by all your friends and family..
you need to enjoy who you are and feel your greatness..
even nelson mandela said …. DO NOT SHRINK FROM YOU GREATNESS…. know you are great.. a child of the universe .. as much as the trees and the stars .. you are here
to make a differance.. in your life and in the lives of others..
i am grateful for RICK your coach and your friend and i am grateful for REBECCA people that gifted you with their energy ..
when you go through a bad time you know your family and your friends are there for you.. and this is what counts in life..
my all time favourite piece of music is HERE COMES THE SUN.. BY THE BEATLES..
if you think of it the sun eventually comes out in your life.. if you work at it..
and me thinks…. the SUN has come out in your life..
I DISAGREE WITH THERAPISTS AND ANY FORM OF MEDICATION.. WHO WANTS TO LET THE PHARMACEUTICAL DRUG COMPANIES INTO YOUR LIFE????
exercise. energy.. good friends .. great family..
and
stay away from anything or anyone NEGATIVE..
LOVE
AND SOOOOOOO PROUD OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT IN THE FRIGGIN VANCOUVER MARATHON..
LOVE
DA MAMA
SEE YOU IN HOLLYWOOD THIS WEEK.. CANT WAIT..
LETS GO SHOP FOR NIKE STUFF..
Hellz yeah dude that’s awesome! I was in a slump myself a ways back but like you had no love for medication. I’ve been running and swimming, eating better, etc. since then and it’s made all the difference.
A half marathon though, damn … I need to get off my ass!
Duncan…way to channel your energies in the very best of ways…maybe one day you can counsel those on this very same issue…fitness is an amazing tool and an amazing sourse of therapy…its takes the dedication and the discipline and many of us lack that…you are in inspiration…you and Rick should be so proud.
Shannon
Derek: for sure lets run when you’re in town! I’ll bring the Garmin 305 we talked about…
Thanks to everyone for your comments as well ;)
Duncan,
Congratulations on the marathon!!! Your mother is very proud of you. Have a great time celebrating your triumph with your family at JJ’s graduation festivities.
I borrowed some photos from your Flicker site & made a beautiful family archivist album for your mother & Tom with the garden photos & your helicopter ride, etc. When you visit, take a peek & thank you also for being such a great photographer & family archivist.
Sincerely,
Kimberley Graham
You kicked that marathons ass! So awesome! I’m really proud of you dude. Way to take control and get healthy! Most importantly, you are happy again.
Hi Duncan, good job, throughout my entire life I have “self-medicated” by talking “positive talk” to myself, hanging with positive people and reading positive information and finally doing positive things with positive people and it sure works for me. Of course you see that everyday in everyway with your mom. I have a book for you. It is Deepak Chopra’s new book “Buddah” I love it. Cheers and keep up the good work, hope we can see you this summer. We are back at the west coast mid Jun currently in Switzerland until then. Peter
Well done Mate, a really good achievement.
Keep it Up… I ALWAYS feel better after heading out for a run – wind rain or snow… I run with North Shore Athletics in North Van. We have all shapes and sizes… it’s a great way to train up for your next big one.
Good luck.
Awesome!!! Way to go dude! Very good news!
Inspiring story!
I’m happy someone finally mentions eating junk as self medicating! I find myself doing it daily and even joke about needing my medicine, i.e. chocolate, icecream. I have been able to keep my weight down since having my children, but have recently fallen back into old habits and find myself depressed and stressed without reason. Thanks for doing what you have and expressing it in your blog! I know I need to get active again, now I feel motivated :)
I found your blog via Jon Rawlinson’s blog…via his Flickr profile lol :)