Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 117, April 2019 | Page 19

PJ’S PIECE
By PJ Moses
We Should All
Be Like Mike
Working at the RUN store and writing for Modern Athlete,
I have gotten used to meeting, working with and writing
about elite level runners. I still revere and admire these
superhuman athletic specimens, but to be honest, I no
longer feel the same tingling sensations I used to when in
their company. Because it feels natural to hang out with
them now. That is, until Mike Wardian walked into the
Bree Street branch of RUN.
World Marathon Majors series (Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New
York), with an average time of 2:31:09. He also held the fastest time for 50km on a
treadmill.
He has twice run the World Seven Marathons Challenge, which consists of running
seven marathons within seven days on seven continents, winning it both times and
setting new records along the way. This year he has also pushed the envelope still
further by running 10 marathons in 10 days, and if that wasn’t enough, he has just
completed the fastest known time for running across Israel. And this all from a guy
who spent most of his youth playing Lacrosse, only taking up running after college.
Accepting Challenges
The word impossible does not register with Mike – or it simply does not seem
relevant to his running journey. If somebody claims that a certain distance or time is
impossible, he gets fired up and wants to prove that it is indeed possible. As a result,
the list of his running achievements just keeps getting longer, and I keep wondering:
What if Mike is an alien, in human form, sent to test the limits of human endurance?
But Mike is no alien. No, he is one of the most likeable humans I have ever met.
The man has more athletic talent in his little finger than 90% of the social media
superstars that abound today, but he is a down-to-earth, funny, humble, dedicated,
honest and super intelligent guy. He is a true inspiration, America at its best, a real
American hero.
Talking to Mike and reading up about his running makes me believe that anything
is possible, if you start your journey with a dream, fuel it with copious amounts of
hard work, build it with determination, stick to the plan with unrelenting discipline,
and walk the walk with an iron will. You have to keep trying, even though you may
have continuously failed.
Attitude Worth Sharing
S
ome of you may be asking, who is Mike Wardian? Let me enlighten you.
Mike is to running what Yoda was to Luke Skywalker! He runs not to be the
coolest kid on the playground, but rather to see where the human body is
willing to go, and what it can
endure. He’s a running beast.
That’s why he has won US
national titles for 50km and
100km, as well as 50 miles
on trail. Impressive as that is,
there’s way more.
Mike has run the fastest
marathon and 50km times
on a 200m indoor track, and
he’s run the fastest marathon
dressed as Spiderman. And
Elvis! He posted the fastest
ever average finishing time
across the whole Abbott
Mike is, in his own words, “just an average guy,” with a nine-to-five job, who has to
juggle life, running and family the best he can, just like the rest of us do. I am sure
that he has his ups and downs, but I have never seen him complain, nor seen him
post excuses about why things went sideways. He doesn’t pass the buck when
things go wrong. He accepts the stumble, dusts himself off and gets back to it as
soon as he is able. He thus talks matter of factly about the plans that didn’t work,
and the bad experiences that made him better. His mantra is that if one way doesn’t
work, then keep at it until you find the right way. That’s the attitude we all can use.
My dreams and goals are perhaps not as mighty as Mike Wardian’s, but they are
important to me and my journey. If I want to succeed, I need to find strength in the
failures and I need to keep turning doorknobs to see which doors open for me. As they
say, the louder you complain, the harder it becomes to hear somebody who wants
to tell you the solution to your problem. That’s why I believe we should look to find
wisdom in the achievements of others. We learn, we grow, we keep moving forward,
and in the end we all succeed. And we can all strive to be a little more like Mike.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: PJ is a former Cape Flats gangster who took up
running, and writing about it, when he turned his back on that dangerous
lifestyle in order to set a better example for his two sons. Today he is an
accomplished runner, from short distances to ultra-marathons, recently began
working in running retail, and his exceptional writing talent has opened still
more doors in his new life.
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