BY NICKI CONROY, A 2016 ASHEVILLE MARATHON AMBASSADOR
Kyle Murphy is far from a new runner. He is a veteran of approximately ten full marathons. When you cannot remember how many you have run, you definitely have earned veteran status. Kyle enjoys running and discovered endurance fitness in his youth. He qualified at the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon to run the Boston Marathon which he completed in 2015.
The 2016 Asheville Marathon and Half at Biltmore Estate is Kyle’s first time as a charity runner. He is finding it difficult to ask people for money but is working towards hitting his goal for a charity he is extremely passionate about.
Murphy says there is not a group, organization or ministry that he believes in more. He has a long history with Young Life. Young Life had a powerful impact on Murphy in his teens and drastically changed his life. He feels everybody deserves to hear the truth from someone who loves them. He heard the truth of the Gospel from a trusted person who was not family with no manipulation or pressures as to what he would do with this information. The impact this made on him is still evident in his life.
Kyle says he loves running and he loves Young Life, so there was no better combination for him than raising funds for Young Life (of Asheville/Buncombe) by running. 
With that in mind, Kyle says his biggest concern is trying to meet his goal without putting family and friends in awkward situations. Every person has a finite amount of relational capital and each time a family member or friend is asked, a portion of that finite amount is used.
While Murphy finished the Dopey Challenge, which consists of 48.6 miles in four races over four days, in January, he decided he wasn’t running the Backyard to Vineyard Challege this year but instead is running the full marathon on the Biltmore Estate. Winter training may have been the biggest challenge to training, although a wife who is also a runner and in training along with a new baby may have added to the training challenges.
When asked if he had a tip for runners, Kyle said, “Running is an old man’s game.” He means running requires a huge amount of patience. People are so used to immediate gratification and seldom have long term goals but running is long term. In keeping with this, Kyle’s Road ID has the following on it: “Patience – Discipline – SelfControl.”
Kyle also said people need to realize when someone crosses a marathon finish line, that runner has earned it. It was not a given that a finish was in sight, even at the start line.
If you would like to contribute to Kyle’s fund raising efforts, you can visit https://giving.younglife.org/Views/evt/dsp_ParticipantPage.cfm?idEvent=371&idUser=86366. Come out on March 13th on the Biltmore Estate and cheer on Kyle and other marathoners!