Hello.  My name is Max O'Krepki and I'm a recent graduate of Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Hammond, Louisiana.  My parents have been running since before I was born so naturally I'm a runner. In my later elementary years I began gaining weight.  By the time I was in middle school I was obese.  One day my mom scheduled a session with a personal trainer.  At first I resisted but eventually I began to enjoy working out.  I soon saw results and I gained a lot of confidence.  Since then I have maintained an active lifestyle and I firmly believe that had it not been for my mom pushing me to work out I would be obese today.

The active lifestyle I have led since my mom first pushed me to work out has benefited me beyond explanation. I have met many of my best friends through sports and other activities and have had had many great memories. I have met some truly awesome people that have inspired me to go farther than I sometimes thought possible. I have never been a star athlete but I am very proud of my accomplishments. I have worked hard in all I have done and I am very proud of it.

The idea of the million mile march was very random.   I was working out with Mr. Jeff Day, owner of SPOGA Studio in Hammond, LA, and I was thinking big numbers.   I was thinking how cool it would be if our small town of Hammond could do something big.  I was thinking the about how Hammond could do a million push ups or crunches or something similar.   Then the idea popped into my head...  "HOW ABOUT RUN IT!"  Mr. Jeff and I had tossed the idea around but it was never very serious until late December.

While at the SPOGA Studio one day in late September Mr. Jeff pointed at me and said, "You, make the Million Mile March real Max!  It's up to YOU!"

I naively said "OK, Mr. Jeff," and I had truly had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Since then we have come a long way. I hear many people telling me how I have inspired them to become active again. At first I thought it would just be cool but I then I realized it would be more than that. I'm hoping that this will inspire all the fence sitters debating whether or not to work out to finally make the commitment to getting healthy.