New Runner
First Team Ortho Race: Monster Half Marathon

For Jason Benson, of St. Paul, 2009 was a life-changing year. He started running in the spring and did his first race ever with Team Ortho Foundation – the Monster Half Marathon on Halloween, 2009.

It has been a journey for Jason to get to this point in his running lifestyle. In 2006 he lost functionality of his right lung and had been about 50 pounds overweight ever since. But his attitude toward exercise started to change when his brother-in-law died of lung cancer, leaving his wife and two children behind. Jason didn't want this to happen to him. "In many ways, Greg gave me a gift, I really started thinking about being around my family and getting in shape was key to that," Jason said.

How’d he do it?

Jason made a major decision - to get healthy - for his son and his wife; but also himself. He says when he started regularly walking in April he couldn't run farther than 6-10 blocks. But with some determination, that began to change. "I got up early every morning to walk before the day began," Jason said. “Once I had gotten in the groove I had no problem getting up at 5:30 a.m. to get a 45-60 minute walk/run in."

That evolved into just running. He soon signed up for his first-ever race: Team Ortho's Monster Half Marathon. "Timing was perfect for me..."Jason said, "also weather was a factor, I run better in cold weather."

By the time race day came around, Jason had lost 50 pounds. He was truly excited for the race. He ran it with his wife. Their goal was a 10 minute-mile pace, but they beat that with a pace of 9:38 minutes per mile. He says the race went great! "People running in costumes is a kick. Lots of energy and excitement surrounded this race. I've never been in a race before, but this had a fun, party atmosphere."

So what's next? Jason has two goals: Run another half marathon - but do it with a pace of less than 9 minutes per mile and run a full marathon. We wish him well!