Author: Andy Smallman

Laurent Boudeau, seen here in a picture he posted on his Facebook page earlier today, is my inspiration for running. It’s while we were living in France that I started to jog and it’s Laurent who helped me along. Early on, I ran short distances. 15 minutes was a long run. Then I started to stretch it out. 0n 17 April, 2011 Laurent ran the Nantes Marathon. The next day, I went out and ran an hour without stopping for the first time in my life. Seven months later, back in Seattle, I ran my first half marathon, and 12 months after that I ran my first (and only) full marathon.

Meanwhile, Laurent keeps running more full marathons. Last fall, Melinda and I traveled to New York to see him complete the New York Marathon. And today he completed the Marathon des Alpes Maritimes. From what I can tell, this must be one of the most beautiful marathons in the world as you run along the Mediterranean Sea. I had the pleasure of running on what I assume is part of the marathon course when the girls, Melinda and I were in Nice. Here’s a little glimpse of that trip.

Back to running and Laurent being my inspiration… Yesterday, I registered to run the Seattle Half Marathon in three weeks. For well over a year I’ve been dealing with Achilles tendonitis, an injury that’s been preventing me from running more than 5 or 6 miles. But I’ve put together a training plan so if all goes well, I’ll be reporting on my successful 13.1 mile run in 3 weeks.

Thanks, Laurent!