Cary Guffey will compete in the Mercedes-Benz Marathon for the seventh time

After his 40th birthday, Cary Guffey woke up in the middle of the night with a new goal: to complete a marathon. There was only one problem.

“I was not a runner,” the Shelby County resident said.

Despite starting with no experience, Guffey was motivated and trained for a year. He and a friend ran the Disney Marathon in January 2013.

“It was fantastic. I mean, Disney does it so well, and they keep you distracted,” Guffey said.

On the way home from Disney World, Guffey said his friend asked him what was next and decided to sign them both up for the Mercedes-Benz Marathon in February.

“So I ran my first and second marathons within 30 days of each other,” Guffey said.

He now has 33 marathons in 23 states under his belt, and on Feb. 10, Guffey will compete in the Mercedes-Benz Marathon for the seventh time. It’s a race he participates in every year.

“Mercedes is so well organized and there’s so much crowd support, that I was distracted on that course as well. The city really comes out to support that race,” Guffey said.

posted Sunday January 27th