-Firefighter's Saying
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| Matt Long finishing the NYC Marathon in 7 hours 21 minutes after being told he had a 1% chance of surviving his accident |
Last night I had the pleasure of attending a multisport education presentation for triathletes. The night ended with a speech from Matt Long. Matt was a firefighter for 17 years, and one of many firefighters there on 9/11. After 9/11 he noticed he wasn't happy anymore. He was no longer excited to go to work in the morning, he let himself go, and was 30 pounds overweight. However, he was convinced by a friend to train for a Team in Training triathlon. Before he knew it he was hooked on racing. One of 9 children he stated he had a very competitive nature that came from family dinners growing up. Motivated by a competition between the NYFD and NYPD he went on to compete in the NYC Marathon, and finished a Boston qualifier (for those of you not into marathons this is a very big deal and requires a sub 7:30/mile pace for the ENTIRE 26.2 miles).
In December of that same year Matt was riding his bike to work due to a transit strike. He was hit by a bus making an illegal turn and sucked under the bus. He was in a coma for almost a month, stayed in the hospital for 5 months, and underwent over 40 operations. While the doctors never told him he would never walk again, the unlikeliness that he would ever regain normal function was the topic of several conversations with his doctors.
However, he went on not only to do the NYC Marathon again, but another Ironman. He ran the NYC Marathon as an Achilles participant. Achilles is a running group in NYC that enables people with all types of disabilities to run through the use of running buddies. In the picture above you can see his two running buddies planted on either side of him. Although Matt and the other Achilles participants started the marathon course 3 hours before the other racers his major concern was being knocked over once the other runners caught up to him, and his 2 friends, also Boston Qualifiers, ran side by side for the entire 7 hours 21 minutes it took to complete the course.
Once the competitive athlete he admitted the psychological pains took a greater toll on him than the physical injuries. While running with the Achilles team he kept asking his friend if he was in last place. His friend refused to answer the question each time telling him to keep moving forward, "as long as you're moving forward you're closer to the finish line and your goal" his friend would reply. However after a man with no legs passed him his friend finally replied "yeah you're in last place. Keep moving forward, as long as you're moving forward you're closer to the finish line and your goal" And with that Matt finally realized he was no longer competing with other athletes. He was in it for himself and his own goal. He jokingly told us he passed another Achilles participant at mile 16 yelling "you went out too fast buddy!" Not only did he finish the NYC marathon, but he also went on to finish another Ironman. The Ironman course has a 17 hour time limit. Matt finished in 16 hours 58 minutes.
The title for this post as well as the quote above both came from Matt's life as a firefighter. Training for a firefighter has very real consequences when it comes to life and death. Train for Life was the written on a sign Matt passed every day as a firefighter. However, he said he thought of the sign throughout the NYC Marathon. While a firefighter he trained with the purpose of one day saving a life, but it was his discovery of his love for fitness that saved him during his depression after 9/11. While the doctors can't say for sure what saved him during his accident I feel it is likely his athleticism played some type of role. And his continued determination to compete in races helped pull him from his depression again after his accident.
His story reminded me of a blog post a woman wrote about what she wanted her daughter to gain from fitness. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be the fastest, or working out because you want to look good in a bathing suit. However, at some point you have to look deeper into what your training means to you. Matt can longer train to be the fastest or to beat the other firefighters and police officers. He trains to finish and prove to himself that he is stronger than his obstacles. You can learn more about his story in his book, The Long Run. I hope each of you will be inspired by his story and either set your fitness goals or be reenergized towards reaching your current goals.
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