My Dream Was to Run With Bob Greene!

In 1996, the idea of manifesting my dreams didn’t exist for me. As I topped the scales at 236 pounds, food cravings ruled my life and the call for physical activity faded to a faint whisper. Yet after reading Make the Connection by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey, two outlandish dreams popped into my head: 1) to achieve my goal weight; and 2) to run a marathon with Bob Greene.

Years of being overweight left my self-esteem in a swamp of despair. But I remembered the ray of hope I held as a child. I found a journal entry I wrote for my eighth grade teacher: “People think I’m un-disciplined, but I know in my heart, if I wanted to run from Nome to China (two small towns in Texas located four miles from each other) and back, I could do it.” Since my twelve-year-old body weighed 197 pounds, my teacher must have laughed at that entry.

I’ve starved myself to a presentable weight three times in the last thirty-six years--once I got down to 120 pounds--but the thinness never lasted. I thought I’d never again feel a spring in my step or be able to double cross my legs like my thin, beautiful sister.

As a mother with three children under the age of seven, it seemed inconceivable that I could stay on a sensible diet or train for anything farther than a walk to the mailbox.

However, after reading Bob and Oprah’s book in 1996, I made the commitment to walk past the mailbox. At 5:00 every morning, I’d don my size 22 shorts and walk in the darkness, too ashamed to have anyone see my body, which was then 219 pounds. As I walked, I imagined Bob walking beside me, offering encouragement along the way. He told me to keep my arms pumping and hold fast to my dreams. In my mind, he promised that I could run a marathon if I wanted to enough.

Did I ever! While in high school, fascinated with marathon running and the feats of Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter, I had written a paper on “Long Distance Running for Women.” Inspired by what I had learned in my research, I began running around the high school football field, eventually covering three miles a day.

Later, I ran sporadically in college, but the dream of running a marathon slipped into the crevices of my mind as marriage and children came along. Now, this renewed dream seemed possible—or at least not completely impossible.

During the first week of walking more and eating better, I lost five pounds. I applied the idea that dreams shouldn’t remain hidden—that one should “get them out into reality” by writing them down. So, on a whim, I sent a letter to Bob in care of the Oprah Winfrey show, asking him to run a marathon with me once I’d achieved my goal weight.

Five days later, a call came from the Oprah show. Although the producer didn’t promise Greene would read the letter, she wanted to stay in touch with me about a possible future show appearance. Nothing spurs one toward a weight goal like the threat of putting a size 22 rear end on national television. I immediately laced up my shoes and logged five miles that day.

I sent the producers an update and picture each month, but I continued addressing the letter to Bob, in hopes he’d eventually see the pictures and agree to run with me. As the months passed, the weight came off. I even ran my first 5K.

The biggest obstacle to my weight loss hit like a Texas twister. My family moved from Houston to Denver, and a few days after I arrived, I fell off a 12-foot ladder, my leg getting caught in one of the rungs on the way down. I was in a cast for weeks, and hopes of running a marathon were then postponed.

Then one day in October of 1997 I heard a radio announcement saying Bob Greene would be in town for a fitness presentation. I brought the pictures, letters, and high hopes that maybe I could convince Bob to run a marathon with me. But even if Bob didn’t commit, I had decided to go ahead with the goal myself. Happily, my friend Terri said "yes" to early morning runs, blistered feet, and long hours of training.

Months later, in June of 1998, weighing in at 158 pounds, I stood with Terri at the starting line of Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, about to realize a 20-year-old dream. We ran side-by-side, and finished the 26 miles with tears in our eyes, hands clasped together above our heads. In addition to this friendship, I also developed online relationships with other women in the process of achieving their own weight-loss and running goals.

Then in October of 1988, four months after my first marathon, I stood at the starting line of the Portland, Oregon Marathon—this time, arm in arm with my new friends. Prior to this race, one of the women encouraged the Oprah show to send a camera crew, along with Bob Greene.

It’s not often that “back of the pack” marathoners have a camera in their faces throughout the race, but on this day our group became television personalities.

After going out way too fast, I started struggling around mile ten. But at mile 17 my struggle ended not in a collapse, but in a surge of new energy as Bob Greene appeared alongside me and said he’d be running to the finish line with me. Tears welled up in my eyes.

Over the course of the next nine miles, Bob and I talked about dreams. He expressed his belief, based on years of experience, that once we set our minds on a course, we attract events and people to help transform dreams into reality. In going the distance with him, I had not merely achieved my dreams; I had surpassed them.

Since that marathon five years ago, I’ve continued to exercise regularly—I’ve run five marathons and I’m training to qualify for Boston. I eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, drink my water, and stop eating.after 6 p.m. I’ve gone up to 180 but have pretty much maintained my 158 to 160 pounds, size 12. I never got under that.

This past summer my weight was creeping up. I began running five miles twice a day and eating very little, but the weight would not come off. In July I had a blood test and it turned out that my lifelong “borderline” thyroid problem had detoured and was way off the charts. I was hypothyroid and as soon as I started taking the requisite drugs, I immediately lost seven pounds.

It’s been seven years since I started the Program. It has brought me from the despair of being overweight and out-of-shape to the pinnacle of possibilities. As it transformed my life, it became a way of life.

Marcia Horn Noyes’ story (Copyright (c) 2003 Marcia Horn Noyes) will appear in Chicken Soup to Inspire the Body and Soul.

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