On Sunday, Oct. 7, more than 15,000 running lovers will converge in downtown Minneapolis to participate in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon or TC-10 Mile Run.
15,000 people. Running. Through the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
While running distance races like marathons is nothing new (in fact, I believe running is one of the oldest sports and past-times on the planet), there is something unique about this particular marathon that very few people are cognizant of. In this marathon, dozens of participants are running with implanted medical devices.
Medtronic, with its headquarters in Minneapolis, has been the title sponsor of the Twin Cities 
Marathon for two years. As part of its sponsorship, the company developed a unique program to recognize runners who have implanted medical devices who are, in essence, living a full and complete life because of their condition and the therapy they’ve chosen to treat it. Some of these amateur athletes run with a pacemaker or defibrillator in their chests. Others run with an insulin pump attached to their abdomen. Still others have rods and screws along their spine correcting scoliosis. The list of conditions is amazing.
What’s most inspiring, however, is that these people continue to achieve their goals, live their lives and serve as incredible moms, dads, sisters, brothers, role models, and mentors to many others afflicted with similar conditions who have similar hopes of living a full and complete life.
They are part of Medtronic’s Global Heroes program, and it has become one of the many attributes of the Twin Cities Marathon that makes it “The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America.”
-end-
Land of 10,000 Perspectives 
… I can lift a ton of weight, but 20 mins. on an elliptical and I’m done.