This week’s spotlight guest started running a short time ago proving it’s never too late to lace up your shoes.
Hi, I am Dan Noonan. My wife, Carolee, and I have two grown children, Ben an EMT/Firefighter, and Delia, a college student along with our cat, Bucky, and backyard chickens.
Why did you start running? I ran cross-country in high school but did not really run as an adult until about 4 years ago. As part of getting my physical-self in a better state, I joined a gym and did a Couch-2-5K. My personal trainer challenged me to run in an actual 5K, which led me to look at other 5Ks, of which I won my age group and a gift certificate to the Columbus Running Company, which led me to Columbus Running Company Saturday morning running program and the rest is history.
Favorite thing about running? The camaraderie, especially with my Alt-CRC (Coffee Running Club) group which organically formed during the pandemic, as well as running with my daughter and pushing to achieve the next distance challenge.
Favorite race(s) in Central Ohio? As for my favorite runs, the Choo-Choo, Hilltop, Diabetes Dash, Columbus 10K, and Big Bad Wolfe come to mind. And a little farther afield, I really love the A Christmas Story Run in Cleveland.
What advice would you give to someone just getting started? Finally, my advice for new runners is that it is all incremental. Four years ago I could barely run for 1 to 2 minutes, now I have run multiple half marathons and a 20-mile race, and find a group to run with. Local running groups are very supportive, unlike any other sporting activity I have done.