2006 Marine Corps Marathon
October 29, 2006
26.2 miles
What on Earth would posses me to run a marathon? It was on the list.
A few years ago I made a list of things I want to do before I die. I guess it’s kinda like a long term ‘To Do’ list. A little bit past the middle of the list is finish a marathon.
At the end of 2005 two of my coworkers got talking about the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon (MCM). One of the coworkers completed his first marathon at the 2005 MCM. The other one had been running most of his life. They decided that in 2006 they would run the MCM together.
As the two of them were talking about this goal they sucked another coworker in and the cult began. It became a topic of conversation around the office. They started recruiting. The guy who had been running longer than I’ve been alive told us all that we could handle it. He had a training program that we could work from that was built for non-runners who want to finish a marathon. He actually did a pretty good job selling the idea that this was within our grasp. When they asked me I told them I’d think about it. About a minute later I told them I was in. I don’t think I really had a firm grasp on exactly how far 26.2 miles was back then.
I had just quit the band, so I had the time. It was on the list, so I had the desire. Two of the people had done marathons before, so I had mentors. There was a group forming, so I had support.
With the group forming this looked like the perfect time for me to run. But I was still a little daunted. The most I could run was about 1.5 miles. I don’t eat healthy. I’m not particularly fond of running. The only thing I really had going for me was my ability to carb load.
When all the recruiting was finished there were 6 members in our cult. I was the youngest at 30, the oldest was close to 60. I teamed up with one of the other cultists to train together (that was probably the best move I made in training).
We all hoped that we would finish the run. In the least, we were all determined to give this our best shot.