One Man's Journey: 100 Marathons in 100 Days

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"I'm not a man of a lot of talents; I'm good at social media marketing and I can run a really far distance without stopping," KP Kelly told us when we caught up with him after marathon #28. He is determined to run 100 marathons in 100 days, and he's doing it all for charity."I feel a little better than I thought I would, except I've had a cold and been taking antibiotics," Kelly told us. "But I was really confident through this point up to about 40. I've done almost that in training... after that point, it will get a little more difficult."This isn't Kelly's first encounter with a long run. It's one of his passions, and he's constantly training."I ran across Ohio two years ago, doing it over six days, so a little over 40 miles a day," he said. "And then last year I did it straight through... so I've done things like this before, not quite the same.""I wanted to challenge myself to the extreme of my limits."[caption id="attachment_9681" align="aligncenter" width="960"]

Courtesty: KP Kelly[/caption]Kelly uses his runs as a way to spread awareness about different charities that he sponsors each day."Doing an event like this draws a little extra attention, that I can then shift towards the charities," he explained.The charities he promotes are diverse, but many of them are motivated by his friends and family. His mother has Alsheimer's disease, and his nephew has cystic fibrosis, so many charities draw awareness to those diseases. Additionally, he has promoted 22 different military charities, including Home for our Troops and Hope for the Warriors.

Kelly says that he may not look like a runner to a lot of people, but it's his training regiment that helps him complete his goals."I'm not a natural runner; I'm 6'7", 250 pounds, so I'm not your 'runner' size... there's some genetics to it; my body's ability to use oxygen, my heart rate will stay really low while I'm running... and then there's just putting in the training. A lot of people are capable of doing this, it's just putting in the training," he said.One might think that it takes superhuman ability and limitless motivation to complete a task like this. Kelly disagreed with that sentiment."People sometimes think that I'm this ultra-motivated person who's just motivated all the time while I'm running. That's just not true, just like everybody else. Mile one I'm feeling great, the sun's out, and then mile two I'm like, 'This is a terrible decision. I want to stop.' Then mile three - motivation is back again, I feel great, I could run forever. It comes and goes.... [I try] not to let my energy level or my mood dictate my actions," he said.It's that discipline that pushes him over the finish line every time, and it continues to push him in his career. And his secret key to that discipline? Get up, and keep moving."Just get out and maybe do a mile, and if you have to walk a few times, just walk-jog-walk-jog, that's probably what you're going to do and that's fine... don't overdo it at first, just get out and be active," he told us.If you're not a runner, or you can't run, that's ok too."When you look at the results between calorie burn and what it does for you, there's not much of a difference between running and walking. So if all you can do is walk for 10 minutes, go walk for 10 minutes. And then the next day, try to walk for 11 minutes."You can follow KP Kelly's journey on facebook here. Check out his blog as well for more information.