For Colin Batty, running with MDA Team Momentum is personal.
Colin’s mother comes from a family of 15 kids, all of whom have varying forms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. In total, Colin has more than 40 family members impacted by CMT.
With few known treatments and no known cure, Colin knew he had to take action in the fight against CMT for his mother, aunts, uncles and everyone affected by neuromuscular diseases. After learning about Team Momentum through friends, Colin reached out to his local Boston Team Momentum Endurance Manager, Chris Marshall.
“I told Chris my story and why I wanted to run in the 2017 Boston Marathon. Team Momentum was granted four bibs for the Boston Marathon, so I applied in the hopes of getting one of those bibs. I knew the odds were slim, but I had to give it my best shot,” says Colin.
Despite the odds being against him, Colin received the good news a few weeks later: he had received a bib for Boston.
Although he’s participating in one of the world’s most prestigious marathons, running has not always been Colin’s go-to activity.
“Let me make this very clear up front, I am not a runner. I would do almost anything to actively avoid running! But that was part of the reason I needed to do this. For slightly personal reasons, I was looking for my next challenge in life, and I have a track record of setting the bar extremely high,” says Colin.
Although he’s not a runner, Colin does have a passion for fitness and is one of Boston’s premier fitness instructors, teaching twelve cycling classes at Flywheel every week. This constant activity has translated well to his training for the Boston Marathon with Team Momentum’s Coach Furey.
“Coach Furey really understands what it takes to run Boston and how to get any individual ready. He stresses listening to your body and knowing what you can do in any given workout, rest and recovery, or cross training,” says Colin.
While providing support in the form of an excellent coach, Team Momentum also offers incredible moral support through teammates.
“Yes, running is hard. Yes, the training is long. But every time I’m out on the course and I bump into a TM teammate, it’s a huge boost! It may sound small or simple, but this is a team that truly supports each other,” says Colin.
However, running is only half of the equation for Colin when it comes to prepping for Boston.
“Fundraising has been an absolute blast. It really is quite incredible to see how many friends and family members have donated to this cause. My fundraising has come mostly from my friends and family connections, and without a doubt my biggest tool to connect with them has been through social media. I have done a few update videos, to share how my training is going and provide fundraising updates, and those have gotten a lot of great feedback,” shares Colin.
So how does Colin #LiveUnlimited when he’s not training for marathons?
“If you go out every day with the mindset that you can always be better, that there is always something to learn or something new to try, then I think that is the best way to #LiveUnlimited.”
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