Hometown: Kingston, PA
Age: 40
Years Running: 10+
Marathons Completed: 5 (including an ultra)
Chris Langley
My name is Chris Langley and I am from Kingston, PA. I have been married to Amy for 15 years and we have three wonderful daughters, Holly, Olivia, and Gwendolyn. I have worked for Allied Services Integrated Health Systems for over 11 years and I’m currently the Director of the Systems Improvement Department. I have also received my ISSA personal training certification and have been training now for a little over 8 months. When I was asked to write a bio, I had a hard time writing about myself. So I thought I would share with the world how I started running marathons.
I have been running now for over 10 years. Like many people out there, the original reason I began running was to lose that 90 pounds I had gained since high school. During that time I started to catch the bug. It all happened on one particular run.
I can remember that one run vividly. I was going to just run 5 miles or so, because that is what the book said I should run and this happened to be the longest run I had ever done to date. The run started at my house and the turn around was in Wilkes-Barre. When I turned around and ran back toward Kingston, I started to think about my daughter, Holly’s soccer team. I had been coaching them for three years and we had just gotten home from her game before my run. I lost track of where I was and I missed my regular turn and before I realized it, the light really turned on for me.
Now when I say I missed the turn, it wasn’t like “Forrest Gump”, mile and miles, it was 2 blocks; right at the corner of Rudder Avenue and Pierce Street. At that very moment, I decided that it was not enough and that it would never be just a run for me. That day, instead of turning down Warren Ave, I turned down Wyoming Avenue and then proceeded to think about Holly’s soccer team for just a little while longer. When I was done thinking about her team I had run 10 miles. It took me most of the day, but I did it.
Running for me is many things; a reason to get out of my seat, a way to think through a problem, it’s a way to clear my head. The one thing it will always be is a proof that I can or can not do something. I tell the people I train that you have to prove to me that you can’t do something by doing it. Until I prove to myself I can’t, I will continue to run.
I know that I am very lucky to be running in the NYC Marathon. I can’t wait to share this experience with the rest of the runners on Ryan’s Run. Beast it Out!
