Steve Mesler, Olympic gold medalist in bobsledding and co-founder of “Classroom Champions,” is on a mission to make a difference in the realm of mental health.
Olympic gold medalist Steve Mesler has been perfecting his craft in bobsled for decades. This year, the 45-year-old athlete decided to tackle a new ambition -- running the New York City Marathon.
There was a specific reason Mesler thought this feat would be particularly hard to achieve. He had been training for years to build strength and power his body -- pushing a giant bobsled instead of running for sheer, consistent distance.
"My body is built opposite," Mesler exclusively told NBC. "My body is type-2B fast-twitch fibers… It's really neat for me to experience the full spectrum of physical … mental and emotional."
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Another motivation behind Mesler's goal of running the marathon is to stay healthy and challenge his aerobic capacity to live a long life for his two young children, Brett (6) and Axel (1).
"Ultimately VO2 Max is the No. 1 indicator of life expectancy, health longevity and health span," Mesler said. "So I recognize that...I'm 45 and my kids are 6 and and a year and a half old, which means that, Axel, my son's going to be 16 years old when I'm 60 and if I want to be there and beat him down the ski hill, if I want to do things with them and I want to see these guys like grow up, I'm going to need to take care of myself in a different way.'"
Mesler is running the NYC Marathon for Classroom Champions, a nonprofit organization for children that he is the co-founder and CEO of. Mesler has raised $6,090 via Go Fund Me and the page says the funds will go toward Classroom Champions program in schools that require financial support.
"What we teach kids at Classroom Champions is goal setting and perseverance and leadership and how to take feedback positively and get better," Mesler said. "I want us to show kids and people that when you step up in the face of fear and you don't sit down and you don't step back, but when you step into it, whether you succeed or not, the process that you just went through is the thing that's going to help your mental health. And the research backs that up."
Mesler joins 50,000 other runners who will partake in the 26.2-mile race through all five boroughs of New York City, on Sunday, Nov. 5. But what will be the key to success for the 2010 Vancouver gold medalist?
"Success has already happened. If I'm there, success has already happened for me. I trained, I did my training, I finished my training block. Success is feeling good on that day. But ultimately, success is finishing the race. I've got goals too… I've got a goal to run under four hours, which again, for this old bobsledder who hadn't run more than six miles… running under four hours, I think for me would be great for my first one. There'll hopefully be a second one as well."
Another athlete who will be featured on race day is Stanley Cup champion Zdeno Chara. Samantha Judge and Emily Rizzo, wives of Yankees stars Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo, are participants as well.
