Murray Collum Began Running For Himself and Now Has a Bigger Purpose

Murray Collum is joining me on the show to share how his running journey has affected more than just his health.

In the few short years that he has been running, Murray has shed over 100 pounds and his reason for running is now centered around a 4-year-old named Lily.

I am looking forward to going a few easy miles with Murray Collum today.

Murray Collum

New Year’s Solution

Murray began his running journey in January of 2016 because he had to face the fact that he couldn’t continue living life as an almost 300-pound man.

The simple acts of bending over to tie his shoes and keeping up with his then 5-year-old were challenging and left him out of breath.

Murray was determined to make a change both for himself and for his family.

At the start of 2016, Murray made a New Year’s Solution to get on the road to a healthier lifestyle and lose the excess weight.

Murray began going to the gym 2-3 days a week and used the elliptical.

These weekly gym sessions took a toll on his energy in the beginning but he stuck with it.

After 2-3 months Murray found himself down 40 pounds.

A co-worker also wanted to lose weight and suggested that they both train to run a 5k.

Murray Collum

The Tools Were In the Toolbox

When Murray first began running he wasn’t sure how to start, so he ran as much as he could and then would walk.

After using this approach for a while, Murray began to get frustrated because he couldn’t run a mile straight.

It was only after he received the advice to slow down his runs to a comfortable pace did his running begin to thrive.

Murray not only ran his first 5k, but he exceeded his expectations on the time.

It didn’t take long for Murray to realize that it wasn’t hard for him to stick with running because he had all the “tools in the toolbox.”

Prior to running Murray focused all his energy on Christian Ministry.

Once he was no longer able to do his ministry work, Murray changed his focus to running.

Already being a goal-oriented person made it easier for Murray to make a goal and stick with it.

Consistency is Key

When running began becoming a routine for Murray, he then began to focus on re-vamping his diet.

He was diligent with logging his food daily and watching his portions.

His hard work led to a weight loss of over 115 pounds.

Murray is an admitted adrenaline junkie and this quality led him to continue to push to improve his running.

After running multiple 5k races, his wife mentioned the St. Jude Marathon weekend.

Murray’s wife is a cancer survivor that was treated at St. Jude as a child.

The event held a special place in both their hearts.

Murray ran the St. Jude half marathon, his longest distance at the time, in honor of his wife.

Murray Collum with family.

Running For a Cause

St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital is dedicated to treating all childhood cancers and work towards finding cures.

No child is ever denied treatment for any reason and the affected families never receive a bill.

Murray felt a connection to St. Jude’s cause because of his wife.

He began following stories of children affected by cancer and was particularly drawn in by a little girl named Lily.

A chance connection happened when Murray was at the start line of a 5k in the city Lily resided in.

Murray overheard a woman introduce her daughter as Lily and from that day forward Murray’s reason for running was forever changed.

With the permission of Lily’s parents, Murray began running and fundraising for Team Lily.

Murray Collum with running partners.

A Bigger Mission

Murray was so dedicated to fundraising for Lily that he came up with an idea that has never been done.

No one has ever run all 6 of the World Majors as a St. Jude team member and Murray wanted to be the first.

By running big races around the world, Murray could continue to raise money for this worthwhile cause while drawing more attention to the issue.

His goal is to finish all the majors by the end of 2027.

Murray has found that running for others is a big motivator because his pain and suffering during races pales in comparison to what Lily deals with daily.

The rewards of running for someone else are knowing that you can keep going when they can’t.

Murray ran the St. Jude half marathon with Lily’s mom and he saw first hand how she re-lived Lily’s journey over the course of 13.1 miles.

Share Your Why

Murray is no stranger to fundraising and shared his tips on how to be successful in reaching your goal.

The most important thing when trying to raise money for a cause is to tell the story of why you fund raise.

Make the story available and utilize social media to get the story out.

Every little bit helps when raising money, no amount is too small.

One way Murray drew attention to Lily’s story was to give updates.

Lily began her cancer treatments with 120 weeks of chemo to get through.

When Lily reached only 17 more weeks left of treatments Murray made a post that encouraged people to donate $17 in honor of how far she has come.

Another way Murray has found success is by creating and selling apparel with business sponsors printed on it.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Stay connected with Murray Collum by following him on Instagram and/or Twitter.

Murray Collum has only been running for a few short years and in that time he has lost over 100 pounds. During his journey towards better health, he gained a bigger purpose for running. Click To Tweet

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