In the Long Run with Gary Allen
[Episode 10] Gary Allen is living life on his own terms and loving every minute of it.
When we spoke with Gary about his passion for long distance running there was something else about his that became clear. There was something about Gary that was special, something that came before the long distance running and it struck us in one of the simplest things Gary said.
Challenge yourself, test your limits. There is nothing that you cannot do, as long as you’re willing to put in the work. Gary’s approach to running, and to life, is to challenge himself on a daily basis. With that attitude, and a passion on which he can apply that attitude, Gary is living a fulfilling life.
Challenging ourselves can certainly make life interesting and challenging ourselves in doing what we love can give us all fulfilling lives. Do some little thing today and tomorrow do a bit more and soon enough, we can all be running our own marathons. Our journey is more important than the destination.
We learned a valuable lesson in this episode, we hope you find Gary’s story valuable too.
Episode Book Pairing
Each episode the The Gray Matters podcast is paired with a book that complements the episode’s subject matter. Here is Gary’s suggestion, we hope you enjoy it.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
by Robert M. Pirsig
A penetrating examination of how we live and how to live better.
Few books transform a generation and then establish themselves as touchstones for the generations that follow. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one such book. This modern epic of a man’s search for meaning became an instant bestseller on publication in 1974, acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters. It continues to inspire millions.
A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on how to live. The narrator’s relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life.
This new edition contains an interview with Pirsig and letters and documents detailing how this extraordinary book came to be.
Get your copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values from Bookshop.org.
About Gary Allen
Gary Allen is the founder and race director for the highly acclaimed Mount Desert Island Marathon, the Maine edge said, “It took one guy with a crazy idea to start an event that is making a positive difference for Mount Desert Island and the entire state of Maine.”
He is one of a very exclusive group who have recorded sub 3 hour marathons in five consecutive decades. He has run over 100,000 lifetime miles. He is ranked in the top 10 for the longest time span between first and last sub 3 hour marathons.
In 2005 he founded the New Years Boston Marathon and ran the first 10 years consecutively. Gary has competed in 24 editions of the Boston Marathon and in 18 New York City Marathons, his personal bests on these demanding courses are 2:40:04 and 2:39:20 respectively. He has been called the Master of the (Boston) Marathon.
The 1968 winner of the Boston Marathon, Amby Burfoot called Gary The Master of the Marathon.
He has competed in 101 career marathons finishing 68 of them under 3 hours. Gary has also competed in 11 Ultra marathons. (distances greater than 26.2 miles.)
He is a co-founder of Crow Athletics running club which now has members all over the USA and abroad.
He is the founder and co-director of the Great Cranberry Island Ultra Marathon, named the ‘Best Race Ever’ by Runner’s World Magazine. This event will host the US National Ultra Marathon Championships in 2013.
Gary is an accomplished motivational speaker and coach, his families roots date back to the first settlers on a Great Cranberry a small offshore Maine island. In January 2013 Gary ran 705.2 miles from the summit of Maine’s Cadillac Mountain to Washington DC for charity.
The December 2013 edition of Running Times Magazine featured this article about Gary’s motivation and passion for running.
