a little and a lot

Monday, December 05, 2005

number two

does one half-marathon plus another half-marathon equal a whole marathon? because i sure did just finish number two!

before i share specifics, i must say that though i am still proud of finishing, i thought myself a little wimpier this year. granted, the weather was cloudy, cold (in the 40’s), and windy. but i pretty much just dropped the ball on the training schedule this year. (i mean, i’ve kind of had some other stuff on my plate!)

excuses aside, i finished in 2:41. yes, that actually means i ran for 2 hours and 41 minutes STRAIGHT. (which is LONGER than a lot of other people, so i’m not sure why the quicker times are the ones that are rewarded. I'M the one with endurance, people!) and my knees are still connected to the rest of my body as of this moment. amazing.

nick ran with me, which to me was a huge gift of sacrifice, because he is quite speedy and i know he could’ve finished with a MUCH better time had he not been burdened by his whimpering, shuffling fiancĂ©. he put speed aside for recreational companionship, and we crossed the finished line holding hands up high. cheesy, I know, but it sure will make a great picture!

there’s something else crazy about “number two:” the 2nd place winner in this year’s st. jude memphis half-marathon was...(drum roll please)...(um, are you kidding? do not even BEGIN to think it was me)...it was...a man by the name of alene reta.

are you thinking that is anti-climactic? what if I told you a little more about alene. like, say, he’s 99 YEARS OLD. yes, you read correctly. he is from new york city. he finished all 13.1 miles of that cold cold race in 1:04:45. 2 milliseconds slower than the first place winner. that is a 4:57 per MILE PACE, people! the first place winner was 27 years old...the third place winner was 26 (who was two minutes after the old man, mind you!). but between them was this 99-year old superhuman. if i could invite any three people to lunch for a day, he would definitely be one of them. (don't worry, jim brinkerhoff, you're always on the list!)

don’t believe me? check out the race times here. (um, i came in 2,990th place in case you were wanting to see my name in print. but you’ll have to scroll down a ways...)

1 comments:

Unknown said...

In the defense of all who have run 26.2 miles consecutively-- two half-marathons does NOT equal a whole one... then, Steve Guinn and I would have each run two; and we most definitely have NOT run two full marathons. But congratulations nonetheless.


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