By Ambassador Lindsay McClelland

I’m pretty darn lucky. I have a great relationship with my family and over the last couple of years my relationship with my dad has just gotten stronger. Why? It’s because we run together. When I was in college, we’d run a couple miles together every now and again, but we never had anything to train for and our runs were sporadic. After college, I started taking running more seriously and began running half marathons which quickly led to full marathons.

Last year, I convinced my dad to come check out a Kenyan Way (my running group) long run. I think we ran about nine miles together, but that was enough to get him hooked! Shortly afterwards, he signed up for his first half marathon–the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. My dad had an awesome race and within the next two months, we ran two more half marathons together.

My dad and I the day before Houston last year (my mom made the sign at the EXPO!).

This year, my dad is training for his first full marathon, the Honolulu Marathon. Not only is it awesome that my father is in the best shape of his life, but it’s also pretty neat that Honolulu was my first, too! It’s been so much fun to watch his journey in training and I am so proud of how far he has come. He’s had a few injuries, but has bounced back with grace and worked hard to prepare. I can definitively say that one of my best experiences in running was helping pace my dad on his first 20-mile training run. I can’t wait to see how he takes on the 26.2 in Honolulu and of course the Aramco Houston Half again!

One of the funny things about running with my dad is that he always thinks he’s holding me back. Wrong! Whether it’s a race or a training run, he pushes me. You might say a competitive nature “runs” in our family.

Does your family run? I’d love to hear your stories! Just send me a tweet to @LindsayLM 🙂

About the Author: Lindsay McClelland
Lindsay is a 26-year-old PR & social media professional at MMI Agency in downtown Houston. About a year ago, she moved to Houston from Honolulu, HI to be closer to her fiance. While she does miss living in paradise, she’s fallen in love with her new city and it’s countless opportunities. She loves everything active, outdoorsy and fitness related. Her hobbies include running, crossfit, hiking, yoga, reading, dining out, writing, and traveling. She is a former collegiate swimmer and still loves to coach!  Lindsay has run seven marathons and more half marathons than she can count…she’s even dabbled in a few triathlons. Here in Houston, she trains with Kenyan Way. She comes from a very active family. Her father is also a runner and the Houston Half Marathon was his first half marathon ever, she had a blast sharing the experience with him last year. Her mom is a former professional ice dancer and is obsessed with tennis.
Twitter – @Lindsaylm
Instagram – @lindsaylm