Running News Daily

Today I completed something that means more to me than many runs I have done—a personal four-day running event I call My Four Day Monforte and Beyond Marathon. This was my own private running event.

What makes this even more meaningful is that it was not planned.

Halfway into the first day, I decided I wanted to come home with something more—a real running event. I needed this. I needed to return to running.

Over the past year, I’ve become fond of walking—often covering 40 miles per week. But I needed more. I needed to start running again, no matter how slow.

I was born to be a runner.

This was my first real running event in about a year.

On June 15, 2024, I pushed forward too much on a 7.5-mile walk and created a serious situation with my knee. I believe I may have torn my meniscus, but without a confirmed diagnosis, I can’t say for sure.

For at least two months after that, I could barely walk. I struggled to cover a mile in 39 minutes. The thought of running was just not in the cards.

Then I began to walk a little more—but always with pain.

But I kept moving.

After about six months, I was able to do a little running—maybe 50 steps at a time. Eventually, I worked my way up to running a 5K. But I overdid it and had to back off again.

It was not a straight line back.

Until now.

All four days of my event began at our Anderson Manor in Monforte da Beira, Portugal, and the final leg brought me back home to the same place.

This was not a timed effort.

Just a personal journey—one that has come to mean more to me than many runs I have done.

The route goes out to three nearby villages that are part of daily life here, with each of these segments run point to point:

Cegonhas — 6.53 miles

Malpica — 8.12 miles

Ladoeiro — 7.2 miles 

That’s 21.85 miles point to point.

The final leg was a loop—4.35 miles on my Cattuis course, heading out toward a local cheese farm and turning around after passing hundreds of cactus plants—one of those unexpected sights you only find in this part of Portugal.

Total: 26.2 miles.

This was not a normal marathon. I did it over four days.

On Saturday, I got things started with a short, controlled run just to see how things would respond. On Sunday, I followed that with another run, building a little more confidence and distance.

Yesterday I covered 7.2 miles on a run to Lodeiro. Today, I ran 4.35 miles on my hilly Cattuis course. There was a little pain today, but not much—mostly just the feeling of being out of shape.

Day by day, I kept moving forward.

This was not about speed.

It was about finishing.

It was about proving to myself that I could once again complete a running event—something with purpose, something bigger than just a few training runs.

One positive thing that has come from this experience is that running at any pace is still running. I do enjoy running faster, and I hope to get back to that at some point, but just running also works.

As you can probably tell, the excitement of finishing this is what means the most.

This effort brought me back to something I have loved since I took my first running step on February 16, 1962.

Where I go from here is not certain.

But I do know this—there will be more running events ahead.

I will also keep walking. Even during these four days, in addition to the running, I have logged over ten miles of walking. Moving forward is what matters most.

This was not about times or distance.

It was about returning.

And that is a victory.