The 3-minute interview: Doug Eldridge
By: Alan Suderman
Examiner Staff Writer
October 23, 2009
|
| Doug Eldridge is a local sports agent who is running 10 marathons this year (Courtesy photo) |
Eldridge is a local sports agent who is running 10 marathons this year in hopes of raising $100,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps disabled service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He'll be running the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday.
How'd you get the idea to run 10 marathons?
The cause came first. Running one or two marathons in and of itself would not generate the degree of sacrifice and attention I think is needed for these young guys. Looking at the calendar and jockeying with some numbers, that was when we really came up with 10 marathons in 12 months for $100,000. It was something that was extreme enough that it would generate conversation.
Do the races get any easier as you go along?
Gosh, I wish. This is going to be the ninth one and I'd be fibbing if I didn't say I wasn't exhausted. I did the first five in the first four months, so I kind of frontloaded them. With each progressive marathon you start generating cumulative fatigue, to the point where now I'm not really recovering to be honest with you.
So what keeps you going?
Commitment to the cause. Number one I committed to it, I have an obligation of service. Number two, at the risk of sounding corny or trite, I think of these guys. They wouldn't quit, they wouldn't stop, they wouldn't put down their helmets or boots. They would say, of course it hurts, of course I'm tired, but I have a mission to complete.
Do you have any personal connection with the Wounded Warriors Project?
I'm a product of a military family, my father was a career Army officer. I grew up with a clear understanding that to serve means to sacrifice.
- Alan Suderman
