Last year, I ran the Country Music Half Marathon. About 65 of my Thomas Nelson colleagues ran with me. It was my first half marathon, and it was an awesome experience. I think that most of my colleagues would agree.

Well, I want to do it again this year. Between our Nashville office and our Dallas office, I want to see 158 people run or walk the race. That would represent 25% of our workforce of 630. The Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon is scheduled in Nashville for April 26. The Big-D Texas Marathon & Half Marathon is scheduled in Dallas for April 6.

Why run a half (or even full) marathon? Here are my five top reasons, gleaned from the testimonials of those who ran last year:

1. It will empower you to achieve more than you think you can.
   
   
   
2. You will enable you to feel better than you’ve likely ever felt in your life.
   
   
   
3. It will make you more energetic and productive at work.
   
   
   
4. It will help you appreciate the value of teamwork—especially when the going gets tough.
   
   
   
5. You will be able to apply what you learn from running (or walking) to other areas of life.

If you need additional motivation, read the testimonials. They are hugely inspiring!

If you are a Thomas Nelson employee, regardless of your location, I have an offer you can’t refuse. First, like last year, go ahead and register for the race of your choice, whether Nashville or Dallas. Next, notify Suzanne Thompson if you plan to run the Nashville event or Lara Dulaney if you plan to run the Dallas event. I have asked them to serve as our official team leaders.

Here’s the best part. If you complete the half marathon or full marathon—even if you only walk—you will receive the following:

• An official Team Thomas Nelson t-shirt. We will all wear these the day of the race.
  
  
  
• Reimbursement for your registration fee.
  
  
  
• A $100 VISA gift card.
  
  
  
• Official public recognition at the first All Employee Meeting following the race.

Keep in mind, that you must notify the appropriate team leader to qualify for these benefits.

In addition, if your spouse or fiance participates, we will also give them a t-shirt and reimburse their registration fee. (You’ll have to share the gift card.) I want to do everything I can to encourage you to participate.

We are also working on a few other cool items, including a charity that we can officially support, a carb-heavy, team dinner the night before the race, and a variety of training walks/runs that we can do together. I will announce those here on my blog as we finalize the details.

For now, the important thing is to register and start training. You’ll save $15 by registering for the Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon before January 1.

I plan to share a few more tips on getting started in a subsequent blog post. Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags:
Thomas Nelson, Exercise, Running, Marathon

Related posts:

• The 2009 Half Marathon Challenge
• An Invitation to Run a Half-Marathon
• A Quarter of Thomas Nelson’s Employees Running the Half Marathon
• Thomas Nelson Employees Speak Out About the Half Marathon
• Finishing My First Half Marathon