I have been very blessed to be surrounded by phenomenal mentors which include my tennis coach (Nesad F), boxing coach (Pat B), and running coaches (Coach Pilla and Coach Leathers). My coaches give endless support and guidance. I am grateful to have them in my life. All of my achievements are mostly due to the fact that I am a product of great mentorships. I just wanted to share an e-mail that Coach Leathers sent out to our team this morning.

Dear Team McGraw-NYC Marathoners:

In case you forgot... THREE days until the Marathon!! Are you ready?

You should be rested and ready to run now. Experienced marathoners know what to expect. They are familiar with the pre-race jitters, the excitement and hopefulness of the early miles and the pain and struggle of the later miles. They also know that the rough patches will pass. Just keep moving. The rookies are entering the unknown. The marathon is a great adventure and there is nothing like the first one. Focus on the basics. One mile at a time. Soak up the energy of the day. Expect that it will get hard but know that you have done the work and you will reach the finish line. All of the pain and sacrifice will be worth it.

"We train to perfect the body-mind instrument. But we race to learn our innermost self. In the race we get down to bedrock... we give witness to a person we have never been before. We learn who we are and what we might be." -George Sheehan, Personal Best

Can I do it? That is the basic question that lives deep in every marathoner's heart. Do I have what it takes? When the going gets tough... will I be tough enough?? I have learned a lot about myself out on the road during training and racing. Most of those lessons are learned during the hardest, darkest moments of a marathon or triathlon. Near the end of a long race, with my legs screaming at me to STOP, I was able to push through. How? I am not sure. I know that it had to do with perseverance and pain tolerance. And I knew that the memory of stopping would be much more painful than the pain in my legs at that moment. You have worked too hard to get to this point to do anything other than WIN on Sunday. I promise that the glory and pride of that finish will burn inside you forever.

Ya Gotta Believe!!!

Coach Kevin Leathers