Monday, April 15th, 2002 was an important day in my history. There I was on that day in Hopkington, MA getting ready to tread 26.2 miles to downtown Boston. Yes, that was the day I ran the first of three Boston Marathons. Was I the typical marathon runner? No, I was a weightlifter who weighed over 250 pounds but was as physically fit as a linebacker in the NFL. I wanted to run the marathon to follow in the footsteps of my father. At first I was running just to please him, but during my training I fell in love with running. I finished the marathon in just over 5 hours.
The next three years were years were great. I was physically fit. I attained my MEd in Special Education, ran two more marathons and met the love of my life. Then in, May of 2004 all of that came to a crashing halt. I tore my calf muscle in a pick-up basketball game. Instead of maintaining my diet because I couldn’t work out, I became depressed and ate my sorrows away. To make a long story short, I lost my fiancé and gained over 120 pounds over the next 5 years. During that time period I grew more and more depressed, stopped running, and slowly developed major medical issues. The day I sent my audition tape into The Biggest Loser I weighed 374 pounds and was on blood pressure, cholesterol, depression, anxiety and pain medication, which ll stemmed from my obesity. I was someone who gave up on life. I decided I was going to be on medications for the rest of my half and die early. 312,000 people applied to be on The Biggest Loser Season 10 so I figured I didn’t have a shot in hell.
Then, I received a phone call that I made it to the second phase of casting…the third….the fourth…and finally I was told I would be on Season 10. I could not believe it. This was truly a miracle.
My time on the ranch was not only the hardest physical training of my life (and I went through the Boston Police Academy), but more importantly it was the biggest self-evaluation. I lived with 16 people who were all connected to me in one way or another. I had to face all of my issues in front of America. I learned so much about myself at the ranch, from my true potential to who I am as a person. One of the major thing I found again was my love for running. I was lucky enough to make it to the last day on the ranch. My goal was to run The Biggest Loser Marathon, but I was eliminated just prior to that episode. I have found solace in the fact that I did not make it. It taught me a big life lesson. You can’t always get what you want right away, but if you work hard enough things will come in time. Well, those things have come. I am running two marathons this year: Boston and Maui.
I cannot wait to run the Maui marathon. As a lover of running, I realize that the Maui Marathon has great tradition. I’m thinking about doing the Warrior challenge. Maui is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I cannot wait to run and look at the scenery from the ocean to the volcanoes. I was given a lottery ticket by being chosen for the Biggest Loser and I intend to cash it in. Im not talking about monetarily, I am more focused on being healthy and promoting physical fitness to everybody. The Maui Marathon is going to be an experience I will never forget! See you in September!
Brendan Donovan From Biggest Loser Coming to MM
Monday, April 15th, 2002 was an important day in my history. There I was on that day in Hopkington, MA getting ready to tread 26.2 miles to downtown Boston. Yes, that was the day I ran the first of three Boston Marathons. Was I the typical marathon runner? No, I was a weightlifter who weighed over 250 pounds but was as physically fit as a linebacker in the NFL. I wanted to run the marathon to follow in the footsteps of my father. At first I was running just to please him, but during my training I fell in love with running. I finished the marathon in just over 5 hours.
The next three years were years were great. I was physically fit. I attained my MEd in Special Education, ran two more marathons and met the love of my life. Then in, May of 2004 all of that came to a crashing halt. I tore my calf muscle in a pick-up basketball game. Instead of maintaining my diet because I couldn’t work out, I became depressed and ate my sorrows away. To make a long story short, I lost my fiancé and gained over 120 pounds over the next 5 years. During that time period I grew more and more depressed, stopped running, and slowly developed major medical issues. The day I sent my audition tape into The Biggest Loser I weighed 374 pounds and was on blood pressure, cholesterol, depression, anxiety and pain medication, which ll stemmed from my obesity. I was someone who gave up on life. I decided I was going to be on medications for the rest of my half and die early. 312,000 people applied to be on The Biggest Loser Season 10 so I figured I didn’t have a shot in hell.
Then, I received a phone call that I made it to the second phase of casting…the third….the fourth…and finally I was told I would be on Season 10. I could not believe it. This was truly a miracle.
My time on the ranch was not only the hardest physical training of my life (and I went through the Boston Police Academy), but more importantly it was the biggest self-evaluation. I lived with 16 people who were all connected to me in one way or another. I had to face all of my issues in front of America. I learned so much about myself at the ranch, from my true potential to who I am as a person. One of the major thing I found again was my love for running. I was lucky enough to make it to the last day on the ranch. My goal was to run The Biggest Loser Marathon, but I was eliminated just prior to that episode. I have found solace in the fact that I did not make it. It taught me a big life lesson. You can’t always get what you want right away, but if you work hard enough things will come in time. Well, those things have come. I am running two marathons this year: Boston and Maui.
I cannot wait to run the Maui marathon. As a lover of running, I realize that the Maui Marathon has great tradition. I’m thinking about doing the Warrior challenge. Maui is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I cannot wait to run and look at the scenery from the ocean to the volcanoes. I was given a lottery ticket by being chosen for the Biggest Loser and I intend to cash it in. Im not talking about monetarily, I am more focused on being healthy and promoting physical fitness to everybody. The Maui Marathon is going to be an experience I will never forget! See you in September!