Morning Finishers,
This past weekend on Saturday, December 5th, we did something truly remarkable. We successfully hosted a marathon.
This event, coined the Arizona Canal Classic, is something we’ve been working on for a large chunk of this year. It started as an idea after thousands of other marathon races were being canceled across the globe. The members of our community were training their asses off to run a marathon, and we wanted to give them the chance to do that.
So, the Canal Classic was born…
Race Weekend Begins
We welcomed a total of 26 in-person participants to my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona to run the race with 4 other members racing virtually. The weekend began with a pre-race dinner where we would go over all the details of the race, review the course, and answer any questions people had.
As people walked into the building to attend the dinner though, something really special started to occur. New friendships were born.
Being a virtual running community, many of us have never actually met in person before, so this event gave us the opportunity to truly say hello, give a high-five, and hug the people we’ve built M1F with over the last 7 months. Sure, we’ve all met on zoom calls, or interact via Strava posts, but never before had this group been in the same room and shared the opportunity to truly connect.
Honestly, it got me emotional 😢
Then came time for the fun part…Race Day.
The starting line 🏃♀️🏃♂️💨
Our day started bright and early at 4 AM as we crossed our T’s, dotted our I’s, and made sure that the stage was set to have ourselves a great day.
The first heroes of the day were my good friends Courtney, Rachael, Charlotte, and Jordan. These ladies blew up hundreds of balloons, tied them all together, and with three different vehicles transported this beautiful arch to our start and finish line.
This thing was not easy to build, but it made our finish line special. It was exciting, memorable, fun, and unique. It gave people something to look forward to when they turned that last corner and a great prop to pose with when you finished.
The full marathon started at 6 AM sharp, and let me tell you, it was dark and brisk. As the runners were shivering in pain we got everyone together for a starting line photo, offered a few last words of inspiration, and sent them on their way.
On your marks, get set, GO‼️
As the runners started their 26.2 miles journey our 20+ volunteers started setting up the 4 aid stations we plotted around the course. If you’re unfamiliar with this term, an aid station is kind of like a checkpoint in a race where you can grab water, Gatorade, and various snacks to help keep you going.
It was early, cold, and dark and even still everyone came out bright-eyed and busy tailed ready to volunteer. You could tell that everyone, runners and volunteers, were excited to be a part of this thing, and it was a really cool thing to witness.
Half marathon runners started at 8 AM and had the chance to enjoy a bit of early morning sunrise as they started checking in. We had 15 people show up to run the half with 6 of them attempting the distance for the first time ever. Just like before, we got everyone together for a photo, shared words of wisdom as they started their engines, and sent them off to do something great.
The Finish Line 🏁 🍻
Out on the course, so many amazing stories were being written…
13 people were out there trying to do something they’ve never done before…
My friends Hannah and David dedicated their race to their father and wore his birthday, 021159, as their bib numbers. Growing up, their dad would give them a dictionary as a gift with the word “can’t” crossed out. He wanted them to believe they could accomplish anything, and on this day, they most certainly proved that.
Bryn comes from a family of athletes, with her dad having numerous Ironman triathlons under his belt, her mother is a very talented athlete, and her two brothers always kicking her butt in the annual family 5k. Bryn made a promise to her dad that she would do an Ironman with him before he passes, and was running this race to prove to herself that she was capable of doing the marathon portion. She placed 2nd overall, and so I think it’s safe to say she’s well on her way.
Kevin is a professional gamer. One that is adored around the world and recognized by fans almost everywhere he goes. He is very good at what he does, but this year wanted to challenge himself with something he thought he could never do: run a marathon. Running was really hard at first for Kev, and honestly, it never got easy for him. But through the process of training over 7 months, Kevin inched closer and closer to his goal, and this past weekend, he got the thing done.
All of our virtual runners finished too! Roshni, Danny, and Keshav all logged a half marathon on their own, and Aneesh completed a full 26.2. They didn’t have aid stations, crowds cheering them on, or a fun balloon arch to run through, but they all still woke up and got it done.
The list goes on and on. Every runner showed up on this day for a reason and left that day feeling like they accomplished something great. The energy was electric. Everyone involved had a huge smile on their face and everything about this event just felt good.
Everyone finished. Nobody got hurt. We did it!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you 🙌
Putting on the Canal Classic took more than a village, it took an entire freaken army. I want to offer my most genuine thank you’s to everyone that played a role in it.
Thank you to Amanda Yeoh for being the creative genius behind the brand, and donating your talents to design our logo. You brought this entire event to life, and I’m so appreciative of you for that.
Thank you to my team at Qwick. Your donation allowed us to make this event so much more than a group of people going out for a run. You allowed us to make it an experience, and one that I will never forget for as long as I live.
Thank you to Miranda Torres at Galvanize for donating the tables and chairs we used for the aid stations. You were immediately willing to help and truly saved the day for us.
Thank you to Danny Spalt, and his team over at NJ Sneaker Factory for donating the gear for our SWAG bags. We were able to put together a really nice offering for our runners, and your donation played a big role in that.
Thank you to Maddie Kloss for helping us put on our pre-race dinner. Finding a host for this part seemed impossible, but you welcomed us with open arms and gave us a really special experience.
Thank you to all the volunteers for taking time out of your day to help us put this on. Your energy and encouragement got 100% of the runners to the finish. Without you, this literally would not have been possible, so please know just how grateful we all are.
Finally, thank you to all the runners for committing to this thing, and for giving us something to celebrate. I couldn’t be more proud of all of you for what you achieved this weekend and hope you are equally as proud of yourselves.
So what’s next?
Well, we keep going! This event was valuable in that we’ve proven that the M1F formula works. Our job is to get people to the finish line, and we did exactly that 30 times over this weekend. Helping people achieve their biggest goals is why we exist, and we plan on using this momentum to impact as many people as we possibly can in 2021.
The Canal Classic also gave us a taste of what it takes to throw these live events. While it was a ton of work, we had a blast doing it, and are excited to plan more of these in the very near future.
Let’s get you to the finish line in 2021
Every single person that crossed the finish line this weekend started from square one. Most struggled to run 1 mile without stopping. None thought they would EVER do 26.2 miles in a row.
You can run a marathon too. I guarantee it. If you’re reading this and are thinking, “wow that would be really cool,” don’t second guess it. Every great marathon journey starts with that initial thought, and I promise that if you listen to that feeling, you won’t regret it.
Train with us for a month, for free
If you’re thinking about shooting for a half or full marathon in 2021, we’d love to help. This weekend really got us pumped, so we came up with a special offer to try and welcome more people into the M1F community.
Signup with us this week, and we’ll give you your 1st month of training for $0.
This will give you the chance to see what it’s like, decide if you like it, and really get some momentum behind you. Just click the button below, and we’ll get in touch :)
Cheers,
Zack & Nathan
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My First Finish is an online running platform that helps people achieve their running goals. We provide fully customized training plans, daily accountability, and a supportive community of runners to help you unlock your fullest potential. If you have dreams of running a half / full marathon, or just want to make running a part of your life, you can signup for free.