Sign up for a marathon and you will instantly feel a sense of accomplishment. Start training for said marathon and you will find yourself experiencing changing and growing in many ways.

• Staying busy: Training for a marathon takes up a lot of time. If you’ve gone through a recent life change that gives you some more free time, like retirement, a break-up, a job loss, or a newly empty nest, now might be the perfect time to take on the marathon challenge.
• A new community: If you’ve been a casual runner up until this point, training for a marathon means that you won’t be able to avoid the runner’s subculture much longer. You’ll find yourself speaking in running acronyms and talking about running a lot.
• Achieving a life-long goal: Many people have “run a marathon” on their bucket list, but few actually achieve it.
• Proof you’re an athlete: OK, so proving to naysayers that you can complete an incredible physical achievement shouldn’t be the only reason you decide to train for a marathon, but it is a nice little bonus.
• Confidence: Once you’ve logged a 20-miler, you’ll feel like you can conquer the world (after a post-run nap, of course). Your running confidence will surely overflow into other areas of your life, such as work and relationships.
• Accomplishment. Although you’ll experience rough patches during marathon training and during the race, it’s all worth it once you cross that beautiful finish line. You’ll feel proud knowing that you set a goal of finishing a marathon and you followed through with it.