Looking for some fitness motivation for 2013? Follow along with Gary Allen as he attempts to run from his home in Maine to Washington, D.C. by January 21. He began his run this morning, departing from the top of Cadillac Mountain and hopes to average 50 miles per day to arrive in time for the Presidential Inauguration. Best of all, he’s taking Reliv along for the run!
Gary is a member of a very exclusive group of runners who have recorded sub 3-hour marathons in five consecutive decades. He has run more than 100,000 lifetime miles and is ranked near the top of the list for longest time span between first and last sub 3-hour marathons. For the past nine years he has run the Boston Marathon route on New Year’s morning just for fun. He has run the Boston Marathon 20 times, the New York City Marathon 14 times and his personal best on these demanding courses are 2:40:04 and 2:39:30 respectively.
After all these years and miles of running, Gary was recently introduced to Reliv products, has integrated 24K™, Innergize!® and ProVantage® into his nutrition regimen and has seen great results. “I have been amazed at the usable and active energy boost I’m getting and how great I’ve been feeling on training runs since I’ve been using Reliv!” Gary said. “As you know I have a long well documented history of running, and guys my age certainly do take notice when something we’ve been doing all our lives suddenly feels easier. Bouncy is how I’d describe it!” Gary said. Gary’s so convinced of the benefits of Reliv that he’s wearing a Team Reliv jacket for his Maine to DC run!
If you’d like to follow along with Gary’s run, you can click here to view his progress via My Athlete Live (a tracking device linked to his phone). He’s posting updates via twitter (@garyallen262) and you can use the tag #ME2DCRUN to join the conversation. The media has even picked up on this story!
Gary is running to support three charities: the Wounded Warrior Project, American Cancer Society and to raise money for the survivors of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. “I picked the Wounded Warrior Project because the men and women who got hurt giving us the freedom to run wherever we want should be supported; it’s just the right thing to do,” Gary said. He chose the American Cancer Society to honor his mother. 
“If I am able to arrive on the grueling schedule I have laid out, I will arrive on Inauguration Day,” Gary said. “I imagine security will be very tight because of the presidential inauguration, but I have reached out to Maine Senators to see if they can help me even get near the Capital building. This, of course, all depends on me being able to average 50 miles a day in the dead of winter.” It’s going to be a tough course, but with Reliv and crowd support on his side, Gary’s sure to do well.
“With live tracking people can cheer me on or even join me for a few miles,” he said. “I have already been asked to speak at a school on the route and a few police departments along the route are planning escorts through their respective towns and cities.”
As far as advice to runners, Gary had some insightful suggestions. “I would tell anyone who might read this to embrace the inner mountaineer I believe we all have inside, “he said. “I have called the marathon the common person’s Mt. Everest … People should not be afraid to climb the mountains that we have all around us, be it running to the corner stop sign or from Maine to Washington DC.
“I also tell people to keep it fun; don’t let running and fitness become another job,” Gary said. 
Gary has competed in 86 career marathons, finishing 65 of them less than 3 hours. Gary has also run in 5 Ultra marathons. (distances greater than 26.2 miles.) Gary’s running has been featured in numerous news reports over the years as seen here and here. FAB running interviewed Gary here. He is a co-founder of Crow Athletics running club which now has members all over the USA and abroad. He is the founder and co-director of the Great Cranberry Island Ultra Marathon, named the ‘Best Race Ever’ by Runner’s World Magazine. This event will host the US National Ultra Marathon Championships in 2013. Gary is an accomplished motivational speaker and coach; his family’s roots date back to the first settlers on a smalll offshore Maine island.