Page 6 - HealthBeat

GETTING IN STEP
North Little Rock man begins running journey after 60
STORY BY CODY GRAVES // PHOTOS BY ANGIE DAVIS
It was a cold and wet Sunday morning, and Sonny Rhodes was running through the streets of Little Rock and
North Little Rock. With the temperature dropping, the rain freezing and a rerouted course, this year’s Little Rock Marathon was especially “epic” for Rhodes, but after 18 months of preparation, he kept his eyes on the finish line.
For many people, running a marathon — 26.2 miles — seems like a far-fetched idea, but the 62-year-old North Little Rock resident saw the challenge as a way to take control of his health. The journey to running the marathon wasn’t easy, but with some professional help and a lot of dedication, he has become an avid runner.
“The body is capable of doing amazing things, as long as you build up to it,” he said. “It’s fascinating to see what the body is capable of doing in the proper circumstances.”
Since starting that journey two years ago, Rhodes has run four half marathons, and in March, he completed the full Little Rock Marathon. Rhodes’ first 5K after starting his exercise routine was the Firecracker Fast 5K, which took place in July 2013, which he completed in 27:27.
Rhodes’ began running while he was in high school. As a teen at Watson Chapel High School in Pine Bluff, Rhodes ran several events for the school’s track team, including the mile run and a few relay events.
“Some people like throwing a baseball or shooting a basketball, but somehow [running] came naturally to me,” he said.
After high school, however, Rhodes said he spent many years in what Bill Bryson — one of his favorite authors — calls “waddlesome sloth,” where he “ate a lot and didn’t exercise a lot.” After high school, Rhodes went on to study at State College of Arkansas — now the University of Central Arkansas in Conway — and followed that with graduate school at Old Miss. He also worked at several newspapers as a reporter, which, he said, between work and his family, kept him too busy to make exercise a regular part of his life.
The catalyst for Rhodes to start his progress toward running a marathon began while he was at a conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, in October 2012. After the conference one day, Rhodes decided he would run around the state Capitol build- ing, which sits on a two-block by two-block square. The distance around the Capitol is roughly a half mile, and Rhodes said he couldn’t make it the whole way around.
“It was one of those pivotal moments. I said, ‘I don’t want to be like this any- more,’” Rhodes said.
6 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2014 // HEALTHBEAT // ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE