Featured Member

MTC featured members Scott and Tasha Altman
Hamlet, NC

It’s not lost on us, writing this as an MTC Featured Runner, when in fact, we probably run much less than the vast majority of other MTC members. We don’t run very far, or very fast. We don’t spend our weekends doing races or long runs. We don’t have medals or race bibs hanging in our house. Sometimes we don’t run at all, we walk, and we do the same route everyday. Our running is more a reflection of the rest of our lives, maybe mundane, from an outsiders perspective, but consistent and gratifying, from our point of view! Scott has been active and athletic his whole life, running around town on two feet or two wheels as a child and then dedicating his time and energy to baseball from childhood through college. I, on the other hand, grew up not especially athletic or involved in sports. No one in my family exercised for the enjoyment of it, more accurately, no one exercised at all. That’s not to imply they were lazy, they worked, they didn’t exercise. When Scott and I were married I had no interest in running, as he often tried to get me to do. It was a foreign concept to me, running for enjoyment. He likes to say I got mad at him every time we exercised together. It wasn’t so much that, but rather a feeling of inadequacy and frustration at my inability to keep up. It wasn’t until I decided to really start running consistently, that I let go of that excuse. Several months after I got serious about running, at his insistence, we started to run together early in the mornings. Scott has a unique perspective towards overcoming challenges or any adversity, it goes something like this, “Yes, you can, don’t say you can’t, work harder, don’t confess negativity and don’t make excuses!” Maybe that doesn’t sound so unique to you, but what makes it so, is that he truly believes it, 100% in every circumstance. Anyone in his realm of influence has heard that or something very similar from him, probably many, many times. He attributes this perspective to his grandfather, a World War II veteran and by Scott’s account, a hard man, who instilled that mindset in him at an early age. So you can imagine my initial trepidation at being his new running partner. As it turns out, our morning runs have become our favorite time of the day! The only regret is the time that passed when we didn’t. We go early in the mornings and it is our time together before any of the days distractions creep in. We have a standing no talking rule the first mile (partly because he’s a chatty early morning riser and I need a little more time to come to life) but we use that quiet time to pray and mentally prepare for the day. I used to be so caught up in the time and distance of a run that I was missing what was really important. Scott tried to tell me that then but I was stubborn and unreceptive. We’ve since had some run times that left us feeling proud, but unless we’re training for something specific or working towards a personal goal, time and distance are just the facts, they don’t tell the whole story of our run. The whole story is the good feeling that comes from doing something good for ourselves, the excitement our dog has as he’s getting leashed up, the laughs and conversation we share, the serenity of the predawn, the changes of the seasons, the cool breeze or a drizzle of rain sometimes when we need it the most, the competition of racing down Rice Street to see who wins and teasing the loser afterwards. The list really could go on and on because there is a lot to love about running. At the top of the list, is just the blessing of being able to run, it is a privilege that fills us with gratitude for the run we’ve just had and eager anticipation for the next one to come!