Csaba Konya, a 62 year old man who stops at nothing to attend a marathon, has left his mark on running. From participating in many half marathons, along with other marathons, he continues to train and prepare for his 100th marathon in November of 2021.
Motivation
Konya, from Fords, New Jersey, attended his first marathon in 1996 at the age of 38 years old. His first ever marathon was in New York City and has participated in their marathons ever since. Prior to his interest in running, he was very active in the men’s softball league within Woodbridge Township. As time went on, forming teams became more and more difficult, which resulted Konya to turn to running. He describes running “as a drug,” as it is “very addicting.”
Marathons
Out of 15 years of steady running, Konya has completed over 1,100 races. With a goal of 200 marathons, he has completed 125 so far. He says, “my favorite marathons have to be Disney, Boston, New Jersey, and in New York.” After elaborating on what the different races entail, he continues with talking about the Boston marathon–and its qualifications. He describes the Boston marathon as the “super bowl,” because it takes a certain amount of talent along with extraordinary racing time to even be able to participate. In total, that is within the country, he has ran 22 marathons in New York, 17 in Disney, 17 in Boston, and 16 in New Jersey. As for out of the country, that’s another story.
Konya has completed 4 out of 7 continent runs with the Great Wall marathon being his favorite. The route in which he took for the run was “very scenic.” From starting at the bottom of the wall, it caused runners to run up a very steep hill. Once reached the top, the ending of the run was at the bottom of the hill. This made runners run back down the steep hill they just ran up. As he began running, he talks about what the route was like and how the view was. Konya then explains that as he was running, a goat decided to join in and race him in addition to his other competitors.
When it came to the marathon in Antarctica, there were not any steep hills present, however, there was extreme weather conditions. Once arrived to participate in the run, a blizzard had also joined him. This caused a major delay in the race beginning. In hopes that he would be able to run, about 6 days later he finally got that opportunity; an opportunity like no other. While he and the other competitors were determined to run, there soon was a resolution to their issue; running around a boat. With about 75 runners on this boat, including Csaba Konya, they all did 240 laps in total, which was equivalent to their racing mileage.
Conclusion
A very determined and motivated man, Csaba Konya has truly impacted Woodbridge Township in sharing his inspiring stories. Konya has ran approximately 42,345 miles. He says, “I always like to write my mileage down after I run, to keep track of it.” As time continues, he strives to increase that number. Konya’s hard work has truly paid off and will definitely be shown on November 7, 2021 when he runs his 100th marathon.
