The Story of My Life

Since I was a young boy, I have been competitive in every sport from rodeo to roller hockey. I played with intensity and passion. Always being smaller than my teammates and competition, I constantly found myself spending extra time in the gym, on the road, or just strategizing, trying to make my weakness into a strength. To this day, I have always loved playing all sorts of sports and making everything, even reading into a competition. My life has been lived around competition; growing up, my father was my basketball coach. Once I made it to high school, my mom was my cross country coach while my dad was my track coach. It is obvious to anyone who knows me that running became my favorite sport, hobby, and lifestyle.

Running is probably the only sport that will allow anyone to have it in all three areas. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” - Hebrews 12:1 Although most people look at running the miles I do as INSANE, I see it as my life. Why do I run? Running constantly leaves me tired, angry, injured, and just drained. But what in life doesn’t? When a friend hurts you or you lose a loved one, it tears you apart. While running is constantly telling you that you can’t and is always knocking you down, it is always there for you to try again. I can be completely wrecked from a workout, and maybe I didn’t even come close to what I wanted to accomplish, but GUESS WHAT?! Tomorrow morning when I wake up, I get to try again.

When life gets me down, running is there. When life takes everything from you, running is there. When you feel like you want to cry from all that life is throwing at you, running is there. Running is this amazing act that drains the body of oxygen, energy, salt… You name it. It takes everything, but it does this amazing thing at the same time. It gives you ENERGY!! Endorphins are produced when exercising which despite the cramp in your hamstring and the headache from being dehydrated, you still feel satisfied, happy. At times, you almost want to laugh because it is insane what you just did but it left you smiling. The story of my life is running, in all I do I incorporate running. As a triathlete, I train and compete and focus in my specialty which is running. To pay for college I was on a cross country and track scholarship. When I graduated and wanted to go to grad school, my coaching of runners is footing the bill.

I constantly surround myself with great friends, but the ones that truly get me are the ones that have run and competed in track or cross country. I can probably list quite a few people who are not on the Brent Bailey Fan Club, but I am willing to bet if they know me even just a little bit, they will say they respect me and my drive… my love… my passion… for RUNNING.