Run for Life: One Runner's Journey to Complete 100 Marathons

"I want to be more than a mom who makes mac and cheese and chocolate chip cookies."

👶That's what Tami Patterson thought about a lot when she was a young mom.

Ever wonder how to balance family, work and self-care?

It's a challenge for just about everybody, including Tami. But something happened about 20 years ago that changed EVERYTHING!

🏃‍♀️She slipped on a pair of running shoes and decided to run for life.

One hundred 26.2-mile marathons later, she's still going...

Here's what happened...

Tami: I heard about this race called The Great Potato Marathon, and you get a five-pound bag of potatoes if you finish.

I signed up for the half, but I didn't tell anybody. I just thought, "I'm not really a runner. I might not even finish."

On race day, I thought, "I don't know what I'm doing here." I felt like such a poser.

But the race went really well, and friends from work spotted her on the course.

"You're really kind of fast," a co-worker told her after reviewing her race results. "With a little training, you could qualify for the Boston Marathon."

Tami: I heard the Boston Marathon was a 'big cheese' kind of deal so I thought I'd just keep going after I ran the half marathon.

I ran the Top of Utah Marathon for my birthday in 2001, but I kept mum about it.

I really didn't know what I was doing. But I ran the race, ended up qualifying for Boston, and got in.

Tami: I didn't really have one. I just went running. 

Back then there were no iPods, but I did have a giant arm band with a radio. And sometimes I ran with a CD player. I didn't have a Garmin, and we didn't have any anti-chafing stuff like we have now.

I really didn't know what I was doing. I just trained. 

I thought it was pretty cool to qualify for Boston, but it really felt like a newbie, one-time fluke kind of thing.

Tami: I wondered if I could do it again. 

At the time, I was doing a bit of traveling. And my grandma's best friend had been to all 50 states. 

She knew a lot about every state. And I thought it would be really cool to do a marathon in all 50 states. 

That seemed like a great way to see a lot of different cities and have a goal to work towards that would take some time to complete.

Editor's Note: Tami wrote the book: Life on the Run: One woman's journey of discovery while running a marathon in all 50 statesTami: I'd come back from a run or a race and tell my friends stories about things that happened or people I met. I saw a guy running with no legs. I saw a blind guy running. 

I saw a lot of cool and crazy stuff, had some great experiences, and my friends encouraged me to write a book to share those stories.

Writing the book helped me see that running can really help you with all the changes that happen in life. Sometimes change is hard or scary. But you can still do hard things and achieve your goals. 

Running can help build confidence, and you can use that in other areas of your life. It's also a great way to remind yourself that it's OK to fail. You can just scrape yourself up and keep going.

Tami: After I ran a few marathons, I really wanted to run a sub 3:15.

But I couldn't do it. I was training well and eating right, but the wheels would just come off chasing that time.

And that was hard. I never really had to deal with failure like that before.

But I kept working at it. Eventually, I ran a 3:04, and even won the Spokane Marathon one year.

Those failures helped me a lot, too.

The CPA (certified public accountant) exam is really hard. I didn't pass it the first time.

I had to dust myself off, pick myself up and try again. And eventually I passed the test. 

Running was one of those mediums that really spoke to me, and helped me a lot during that time.

Tami: Road marathons. I have ADHD. Running on the road is one of the only times my mind can really settle down and focus. I can get into really deep thought when my feet are moving on the road.

I've done some trail running. But paying attention to rocks, trees and roots requires a little more focus and concentration and forces me to run slower. It's just way too much work for my ADHD brain.

Tami: My best friends are the people I run with.

I don't have to put on make-up or wear pretty clothes. I just show up with my hair pulled back and we run morning after morning.

We talk about life and real stuff that's happening. It's one of the best ways to really get to know somebody and connect deeply with them.

I was out in my driveway when I met Vicki Monsey.

We were both moms, and she asked me about running. 

She had some of the same worries and fears that I had when I was a new mom. And she met me one morning on the street to go running.

• "You can qualify for Boston," I told her.
• "I'm not really a runner," Vicki said.
• "That's what I said," Tami replied. "You never know until you try."

With a little encouragement from Tami, Vicki did qualify for the Boston Marathon.

And when they checked off that bucket-list item, Vicki's response was simple: "What's next?"

The two friends have completed many races together since that first neighborhood run, including Ironman Arizona.

Tami: I ran the Tokyo Marathon in Japan on March 4, 2023.

I wasn't really worried about it. After that many marathons, I kind of run them on autopilot. But that's not exactly what happened.

My daughter came with me, and wanted to see and do everything local.

About two days before the race, we ate sushi.

Since then, I found out that the U.S. is one of the only countries to deep-freeze seafood to kill all the parasites.

Which means, I gobbled up a plate of parasites a couple days before the Tokyo Marathon.

That night my stomach was in knots. It hurt so bad. I ended up projectile-vomiting everything before the race.

Tokyo Marathon race day
 I went into the race without carbo-loading and totally depleted of everything I'd eaten over the past two days.

I was a little nervous. It was the worst shape I've ever been in before running a marathon.

I took some energy blocks and diet Coke to the beginning of the race and decided I was just going to do it.

Luckily, it turned out OK. I ended up qualifying for Boston again and earning the Six Star Medal by running the top six marathons in the world: Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin, London and Tokyo.

A little piece of advice: Do not eat sushi a few days before a marathon, especially in a foreign country.

Tami: Getting outside for a run just makes me feel alive. 

When I started running, I took in life. Everything became more intentional. 

It's really helped me be more present and aware. And that's a feeling that permeates in all the other areas of my life. 

I look forward to running every day. And it keeps me in touch with my life and my goals.

Tami:

• Don’t quit. If you're new to running, give yourself at least 30 days before you quit. If you still absolutely hate it, maybe running isn't for you. But give it 30 days. It's hard for most people. But it's also a way to help you learn how to handle change and deal with hard things better.
• Create good habits. You don't have to start with running 45 minutes a day at first. Start with something smaller and commit to it. Usually, when people see progress they internalize that as motivation. And then you don't have to drag yourself out of bed for a run anymore. The physical benefits start to show up, and you realize it's worth the effort.
• Pick a goal. Sign up for a race and find some friends to hold you accountable to train for it. Training with other people can be really helpful.
• The biggest benefit. Running will give you confidence and knowledge that you can do hard things. And that can help you live a purposeful life.

Number of marathons completed

• 100

Favorite running shoe

• Nike ZoomX VaporFly

Favorite marathon

• New York City Marathon. "Running through the five boroughs and the crowds along the course are amazing. I love the after-race party, too, like catching a Broadway play. Everything about this race is super fun."

Favorite song on playlist

• She's in Love with the Boy by Trisha Yearwood

Favorite podcasts

• The Mindset Mentor by Rob Dial
• The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes
• The Ed Mylett Show

Post-race ritual

• "I'll get a large diet Coke, use some CBD oil to speed muscle recovery, and take a hot shower four times longer than necessary."

Lifetime # of miles ran

• 75,000 miles. I've ran enough miles to circumnavigate the earth about three times. 

Take-away lesson from running 100 marathons

•  "Your body will literally do anything you set your mind to. The only thing stopping you is voice in your head."