With two races behind him and at least two more to go before year’s end, John Sovocool lives life one step at a time. True, he clumps these steps together in a minimum of 26.2 miles and a maximum of 100 miles at a time, but nevertheless, this is his philosophy, and passion, for life. “How well you do in a marathon is proportionate to how well you trained and what you put into it. This indirectly applies to life, too,” he said last week, just after retiring his bus to the bus garage after the morning school run. And he has put a lot into his 50 years of life so far. In between raising five children with his wife, Nancy, owning and operating the Fieldstone Farm Resort, serving his country for 16 years in the Air Force, and now serving his community as a bus driver since 1999, Sovocool still finds time for his passion – long distance running. He began running in high school and ran consistently in the Air Force, but Sovocool noted that he did not run his first marathon until 1985. “Then there was a 13 year gap, and I could kick myself for that,” he said. Since then he has participated in at least 33 marathons and races of varying length and is striving for a personal goal of running in every state in the U.S. So far his feet have carried him around 17 states, from Maine all the way down to Alabama. This autumn, he plans on adding two more to the list, with a marathon in New Hampshire, Sept. 18 and another in Chicago, Oct. 19. The hardest part of running, he added, is the fundraising aspect. “I hate asking people for money.” Currently, he is considering running in the Durango Double, a two day marathon in Durango, Colo. “This is a new challenge,” he said, explaining that if he runs both days and qualifies for the 2007 Boston Marathon, he will have his entry fees paid for, in addition to receiving a prize package. But runners do not run for the prizes or the trophies they receive, Sovocool said. It’s tough to answer why they do run, but he gave it a gallant effort. “The bottom line is that it is all very existential. I mean, for those who have experienced the sport of ultra-running, no explanation is necessary and for almost everyone else, no explanation would ever suffice.” For some, ultra running – running marathons longer than the standard 26.2 miles – provides a sense of confidence and empowerment that carries over into other aspects of their lives. For some, it is a means of connecting with their creator with a sense of spiritual renewal, he said. For others, it is an adventure, a challenge, a way to probe the limits of endurance and to “chart new voyages of accomplishment.” It can also be about conquering fears. Another great reason, he explained, is the people he meets. “You meet the most unbelievable people. I’m the slacker when I talk to some people,” like one 80-year-old woman who was running on her birthday, who Sovocool said looked like she was 60 years old. There is a certain “long distance runner mentality,” he explained, which combines a humble nature with a sense of arrogance. They are very humble people, “because we know our limitations; most people don’t. They haven’t pushed themselves enough in every way. We know what our physical limits are.” Yet, he continued, “there is that core of arrogance when you think, ‘I can do this.’ I don’t know if that’s healthy or not, I guess it mostly is, but it can also get you in trouble because you think you can conquer anything.” He went on to say that with that attitude, if you don’t deceive yourself and work hard enough, and prepare hard enough, you can overcome anything. “You never know what your potential is until you push your limits,” Sovocool said. “People often take the middle road and settle for a life of mediocrity. Then they never know what they’re missing.” Not knowing is something that rarely stops Sovocool from setting and accomplishing goals. From the jungles of Cambodia, to the lush fields of Richfield Springs, Sovocool has lived life with the same determination and dedication that he exhibits during his marathons and training. Moving to Richfield Springs to operate a resort was not something he had planned to do with his life. Being a third of four generations who graduated from Cornell (his major was Biology) and serving as a military officer with the Air Force did not provide him the background or training “in the hospitality industry,” that would be necessary to make running a resort successful. But he and his wife, Nancy, “knew the secret of success is understanding human nature and working with people.” However, his greatest challenge has not been in running – either running a resort or running in a marathon. His greatest challenges in life have been emotional, he said. “Emotionally, all that pales to things we go through in life,” he said. Losing his sister, Patty, in a drowning accident when he was 17 and she was 16, was top on the list of challenges to endure. Watching his wife battle cancer pushed his emotional limits. Saying goodbye to his kids while he was in the service and had to go off for weeks at a time – another hard life lesson to live through. “I think people give up too easily,” he said. “Take any subject and people give up way too quick on things. They need to be more tenacious and more persistent. You don’t know what’s around the next corner. People don’t know because they’re not willing to go around that next corner.” He wears an ID bracelet that keeps all of his medical information literally at hand for emergency situations. On one side the bracelet reads, “One more mile.” This sums up the difference between Sovocool and so many other people. This is what his life is all about, whether he is running kids back and forth to school as their bus driver, whether he’s running his resort with his wife, running his family (again with the help of his wife) or running marathons. Sovocool is always more than willing to go “one more mile.”
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