WEBVTT 00:03.769 --> 00:06.230 I'm a very highly motivated individual . 00:06.239 --> 00:08.109 I'm someone who is obsessed with 00:08.119 --> 00:10.460 maximizing my potential . I'm currently 00:10.470 --> 00:12.720 running about 100 and 15 miles a week . 00:12.729 --> 00:16.538 That's 16 to 17 miles a day . I'm 00:16.548 --> 00:19.208 Jason Seller . I'm a marathon runner . 00:20.940 --> 00:23.270 I have won the Air Force half marathon 00:23.280 --> 00:25.336 twice . And then last year I won the 00:25.340 --> 00:27.173 Air Force full marathon . That's 00:27.173 --> 00:29.340 actually the first time that I've ever 00:29.340 --> 00:31.451 won a marathon . So that was a really 00:31.451 --> 00:33.618 cool experience . I remember last year 00:33.618 --> 00:35.729 crossing that finish line uh in first 00:35.729 --> 00:37.849 place and the first people that were 00:37.860 --> 00:39.916 there to greet me were the uniformed 00:39.916 --> 00:42.180 men and women . And uh they were 00:42.189 --> 00:44.360 excited to see me and congratulate me 00:44.369 --> 00:46.900 and give me fist bumps and high fives . 00:46.909 --> 00:49.659 Um But it was cool . It was cool for me 00:49.669 --> 00:51.836 to see them and , and be able to thank 00:51.836 --> 00:53.860 them this year . I'm determined to 00:53.869 --> 00:56.340 repeat and be the champion again . The 00:56.349 --> 00:58.450 goal is to win . The goal is to push 00:58.459 --> 01:02.180 myself as hard as I can . And um I'm 01:02.189 --> 01:04.356 confident that I have a very good shot 01:04.356 --> 01:06.800 at repeating . I'm 32 years old . So I 01:06.809 --> 01:10.220 realized that my prime of my athletic 01:10.230 --> 01:12.309 career is coming to a close . And so 01:12.319 --> 01:14.375 I'm highly motivated , like I said , 01:14.375 --> 01:16.319 and I'm looking to , to accomplish 01:16.319 --> 01:19.349 things that during the majority of my 01:19.360 --> 01:21.582 twenties , I didn't think I was capable 01:21.582 --> 01:24.989 of in December of 2022 . I ran the 01:25.000 --> 01:27.250 California International Marathon . And 01:27.260 --> 01:29.427 in that race , I set a personal record 01:29.427 --> 01:31.779 of two hours and 17 minutes , which 01:31.790 --> 01:35.089 qualifies me to the , uh , 2024 Us 01:35.099 --> 01:37.269 Olympic trials . Even though I've 01:37.279 --> 01:40.139 already accomplished a lot . I'm not 01:40.150 --> 01:42.372 content . I'm not satisfied . I'm , I'm 01:42.372 --> 01:44.483 proud of what I've accomplished , but 01:44.483 --> 01:46.261 I've been trying to maximize my 01:46.261 --> 01:48.261 potential . I've been trying to get 01:48.261 --> 01:50.317 even faster than I've run before . I 01:50.317 --> 01:52.949 have an ambitious goal of winning what 01:52.959 --> 01:55.459 I consider to be Ohio's big six 01:55.470 --> 01:58.559 marathons . So you have Toledo , you 01:58.569 --> 02:00.902 have the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon . 02:00.902 --> 02:04.680 You have the Cleveland Marathon , 02:04.690 --> 02:07.639 Akron Marathon , Columbus Marathon , 02:07.690 --> 02:11.070 Air Force Marathon . What makes doing 02:11.080 --> 02:13.559 all of these races really fun is I get 02:13.570 --> 02:16.360 to travel , train and compete with 02:16.630 --> 02:19.029 training partners who also some of my 02:19.039 --> 02:21.509 best friends . So I've , I've developed 02:21.520 --> 02:23.710 really meaningful relationships and 02:23.720 --> 02:25.609 friendships with some of the best 02:25.609 --> 02:27.498 runners in the area . The running 02:27.498 --> 02:29.498 community is very tight knit . It's 02:29.498 --> 02:31.220 very close . Everybody is very 02:31.220 --> 02:33.164 supportive of one another . You're 02:33.164 --> 02:35.750 gonna go through the 200 . I currently 02:36.000 --> 02:39.279 am an assistant coach for Tip City or t 02:39.460 --> 02:41.682 canoe , high school , cross country and 02:41.682 --> 02:44.440 track . Stay smooth . It's really cool 02:44.789 --> 02:46.900 to be able to coach them and see them 02:46.900 --> 02:49.289 achieve high levels of success . But at 02:49.300 --> 02:51.467 the same time , as much as I'm helping 02:51.467 --> 02:53.578 them reach their goals , they're also 02:53.578 --> 02:57.509 helping me reach my goals . Talent 02:57.520 --> 02:59.809 doesn't get you as far and running as 02:59.820 --> 03:02.029 it does in other sports . That's just 03:02.039 --> 03:04.589 an opinion . So you really gotta put in 03:04.600 --> 03:07.070 the work . Um , you really gotta go and 03:07.080 --> 03:09.247 run , run , run , run , run , you have 03:09.247 --> 03:11.589 to run a lot improving is what matters . 03:11.600 --> 03:13.711 Getting better , challenging yourself 03:13.711 --> 03:15.656 being better than you were the day 03:15.656 --> 03:17.878 before , being better than you were the 03:17.878 --> 03:20.044 year before . I've been doing a lot of 03:20.044 --> 03:23.059 racing um , in 2023 . Even though my 03:23.070 --> 03:25.014 specialty is the marathon , I like 03:25.014 --> 03:27.237 challenging myself at other distances . 03:27.237 --> 03:29.348 It gets kind of boring and repetitive 03:29.348 --> 03:31.514 just to do the same race over and over 03:31.514 --> 03:33.681 and over . And I did end up , um doing 03:33.681 --> 03:35.919 the Glass City Marathon . I won that in 03:35.929 --> 03:38.080 April . I set the course record there 03:38.289 --> 03:40.960 and then two weeks later , I came back 03:40.970 --> 03:42.970 and I won the Cincinnati Flying Pig 03:42.970 --> 03:45.720 Marathon and to do two competitive 03:45.729 --> 03:47.785 marathons like that and back to back 03:47.785 --> 03:50.210 within a two week span is kind of 03:50.220 --> 03:53.720 unheard of Air Force marathon has a ton 03:53.729 --> 03:55.979 of history . I'm really happy that this 03:56.259 --> 03:59.070 marathon exists . I'm , I'm happy to be 03:59.389 --> 04:02.240 a local runner and this is a marathon 04:02.250 --> 04:04.860 that I've obviously run in the past , 04:04.869 --> 04:06.925 but I'll continue to run year in and 04:06.925 --> 04:10.529 year out in the future as well . I 04:10.750 --> 04:12.806 love that . It's a local event but I 04:12.809 --> 04:14.920 say it's a local event for me because 04:14.920 --> 04:17.087 I'm local , but it's really a national 04:17.087 --> 04:19.087 and global event . They get runners 04:19.087 --> 04:21.198 from all 50 states , they get runners 04:21.198 --> 04:23.365 uh internationally as well . The start 04:23.365 --> 04:25.670 of the race is just so cool because you 04:25.679 --> 04:27.901 get to see the , the strength and might 04:27.901 --> 04:30.123 of our military on display with all the 04:30.123 --> 04:32.290 different aircraft that they feature . 04:32.290 --> 04:34.123 The national anthem is just more 04:34.123 --> 04:36.290 meaningful here because of the history 04:36.290 --> 04:38.623 of , of our military , of our air force . 04:38.623 --> 04:40.846 Um All the service , men and women that 04:40.846 --> 04:43.012 volunteer their time here . Um So your 04:43.012 --> 04:45.235 adrenaline's definitely uh running at a 04:45.235 --> 04:47.346 pretty high level at the start of the 04:47.346 --> 04:49.401 race . I was fortunate enough to win 04:49.401 --> 04:51.623 pretty handily this past year by a good 04:51.623 --> 04:53.846 nine or so minutes , but you never know 04:53.846 --> 04:55.901 who's gonna show up . It could be an 04:55.901 --> 04:57.679 easier experience and then this 04:57.679 --> 04:59.679 upcoming year I could have my hands 04:59.679 --> 05:01.901 full and be running , um , with someone 05:01.901 --> 05:03.846 stride for stride and , and really 05:03.846 --> 05:06.068 challenging for that win . So hopefully 05:06.068 --> 05:08.346 it's my day , but it , it might not be . 05:19.299 --> 05:21.521 There's definitely over 10 lead changes 05:21.521 --> 05:23.632 today . I pass him , I'm ahead of him 05:23.632 --> 05:25.709 for a little bit . He passes me and 05:25.720 --> 05:27.720 it's just back and forth , back and 05:27.720 --> 05:29.942 forth . I had to work a lot harder than 05:29.942 --> 05:32.109 I anticipated . I thought that I would 05:32.109 --> 05:34.331 just come out here and be a cupcake win 05:34.331 --> 05:36.498 for me . But a guy named Connor , he's 05:36.498 --> 05:38.609 in the army pushed me for 21 22 miles 05:38.609 --> 05:40.942 and made me nervous throughout the race . 05:41.079 --> 05:43.190 Connor didn't race this last year . I 05:43.190 --> 05:45.301 think this is probably the first time 05:45.301 --> 05:47.412 he's done it . So , um , yeah , I had 05:47.412 --> 05:49.523 no idea who would show up and he gave 05:49.523 --> 05:51.412 me a run for my money today . But 05:51.412 --> 05:53.690 ultimately , my training paid off . My 05:53.700 --> 05:55.929 discipline paid off . I have a lot of 05:55.940 --> 05:58.107 confidence in myself and I was able to 05:58.107 --> 06:01.309 pull away at the end of our 06:02.269 --> 06:05.489 defending champion . I have a pretty 06:05.500 --> 06:07.730 good memory of , of um , a lot of the 06:07.739 --> 06:09.906 races that I've done and this one will 06:09.906 --> 06:11.961 definitely stand out because of that 06:11.961 --> 06:14.072 battle . There's a lot of sharp turns 06:14.072 --> 06:16.128 in this race . Um This is not a fast 06:16.128 --> 06:18.350 course , a fast course would have a lot 06:18.350 --> 06:20.683 of long straightaways and minimal turns . 06:20.683 --> 06:22.906 But at the end of the day , it's , it's 06:22.906 --> 06:24.961 about going out there and doing your 06:24.961 --> 06:26.906 best . And I , I enjoyed being out 06:26.906 --> 06:26.519 there on the course , giving it the 06:26.529 --> 06:28.760 best I had today . I'm excited that I 06:28.769 --> 06:30.547 won today , but I'm excited for 06:30.547 --> 06:32.769 everybody else that reached their goals 06:32.769 --> 06:36.540 today . I love the fireworks . I 06:36.549 --> 06:38.771 just , I love seeing the servicemen and 06:38.771 --> 06:41.105 women and it's cool being , uh you know , 06:41.105 --> 06:42.827 awarded this medal by them . I 06:42.827 --> 06:44.993 appreciate what they do for , for me , 06:44.993 --> 06:47.160 for us , for our country . It's , it's 06:47.160 --> 06:46.720 a big undertaking to put out an event 06:46.730 --> 06:48.508 like this and it's not just the 06:48.508 --> 06:50.730 marathon , it's the five K , the 10-K , 06:50.730 --> 06:52.897 the half the full and , uh , it's just 06:52.897 --> 06:54.786 a really supportive and energetic 06:54.786 --> 06:56.841 atmosphere out here . I love being a 06:56.841 --> 06:57.559 part of the Air Force marathon .