This is the next installment of Dads Who Run here on cubicle dad runs.

Working parents have a lot on their plate. And as a working dad, I think we sometimes get taken for granted. It’s tough to balance work, family and life in general. Now add in endurance sports? You’re upping the ante a bit. I thought it would be nice to highlight some Dads who run! If you are a dad who runs and would like to be included in Dads Who Run, send me an email and we’ll talk!

With that said, take it away, Ed!

Hi. My name is Ed and I’m a….runner.  Thought I was going to say something different didn’t you? Seriously my name is Ed Schober and I’m the proud Father of three wonderful girls ages 10 (almost), 8.5 and 5.  I’m also the husband of a serious marathon runner.  She’s the real reason I started all this running stuff in the first place!

I work for a large Asset Management firm in the John Hancock Building.  I’ve been working there for 10 years. We live in the Ravenswood Manor neighborhood on Chicago’s near NW side. I coach soccer for the two older girls and will probably be the soccer coach for the little one as well this year.

Both of my older girls have already run a few 5Ks.  Start them early right!  I want to run with them now because very soon they’ll all be kicking my butt. My first love was a bike.  Then it was racquetball.  When racquetball destroyed my knees I went back to the bike. I’ve been bike commuting for almost 20 years.  I don’t bike as much as I used to because of running.  But biking in my early years has helped keep my knees strong for all this running I’ve been doing in my later years.  Don’t get me wrong I still love to bike.  I just can’t bike 70 miles a week and run 25 on top of that.

I had always been a decent 5K and 10K runner.  I wasn’t crazy about running and would only run the races that had a great party afterwards.  Hey I was single.  I had a lot of friends who were marathon runners at that time.  Most of them were women.  Now that I think of it ALL of them were women!

One of those women, Kris, would always ask me to take her and her marathon friends out for a cross-training bike ride.  Those rides were just me and roughly 15 women.  I felt like Hugh Hefner on two wheels!  Anyway one day Kris brings this girlfriend along who I hadn’t met before.  I was told she was the strongest runner in the group.  She was also the strongest biker.  She was the only one who kept up with me that day.  Five miles into that ride I knew we’d be married.  I just knew it.  Donna and I were married two years later.

So I always got the question “When are you going to run a marathon?” and my standing reply was “When I turn 45”.

Well lets jump ahead to October 2008 when I’m at home with the kids watching the Chicago Marathon on TV.  Donna was a pacer for Nike that year and the girls wanted to see Mommy on TV.  Kind of a “Where’s Waldo” moment.  Anyway out of the blue my oldest daughter asks the question…”When are you going to run a marathon Daddy?” To which I replied “When I turn 45” in which she replies “Isn’t that next month Dad?”

I was busted by a 6 year old girl/future marathon runner! Twelve months later I crossed the finish line of the 2009 Chicago Marathon.  One of the top 5 moments in my entire life. Now I’m a charity runner for the American Cancer Society’s DetermiNation team.  In 2011 I ran 7 races ranging from a 5K, 10 miler, half marathon and my final (8th) race of the year was to be the New York Marathon but 4 days before the race I had to have emergency eye surgery thus ending my marathon.  Not all was lost.  I raised over $12,000 for ACS and hopefully helped save many lives.

Also I’m a contributor to DetermiNators.org a blog for many DetermiNation athletes dedicated to beating cancer.

My goal for this year is to run the Berlin Marathon on September 30th.  Berlin is one of the 5 majors in marathoning.  The others being Chicago, Boston, New York and London.  My speedy wife needs Berlin and London to complete the set so we picked Berlin for this year.  Also September 30th happens to be her birthday so it should be a great trip.

I’ll be going back to run the New York Marathon in 2013.  Hopefully this time I’ll get to the start line.

People ask us how we manage the house, kids, work, soccer and running.  For us it’s fairly easy.  Donna always runs at 5:15am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a long run on the weekend.

When I’m training for a marathon I take Tuesday and Thursday runs early in the morning with a lunchtime run on the lakefront on Mondays.  I get my long weekday run in on Wednesdays when I usually run home from work.  It’s exactly 8 miles home which I can add miles to if I need to go longer.  Then of course a weekend long run as well.

She always runs with her posse.  I always run alone.  It’s how we like to train.

I am an avid Twitter guy (@edschober) and write my own blog called Running To Stand Still which you can find at www.edschober.com. Here you can read about my 2011 New York Marathon issues and about how I  crossed the Boston Marathon finish line twice…sort of.