I am not a runner. Except of course as a small kid running around the neighborhood, I have never run in my life. In fact, I’ve never participated in any organized sport, let alone any type of a race. So of course when my youngest son suggested he and I sign up for the 2013 Chicago Marathon, I thought, ‘sure, why not?’ Heck, something like a half million people complete a marathon each year! I mean, how hard could it be? Never mind the fact that the first person to complete a marathon died at its completion.
“The name Marathon comes from the legend of Philippides or Pheidippides, the Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the persions had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought), which took place in August or September, 409 BC. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν (nenikekamen, ‘we have won!’), before collapsing and dying. The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch’s On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD, which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus’s lost work, giving the runner’s name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles. Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD) also gives the story, but correctly names the runner Philippides (not Pheidippides)”. This quote was taken from, and you can read more about the history of the marathon, here.
Besides…I have almost a whole year to train. And given the fact that I NEVER procrastinate, well, um, okay… So in February my son and I decided to take the leap. We went online to register, only to receive this:
Apparently there was some big mess with the online registration process and everything was put on hold until they could figure it out. The story made the world news…so I guess it was kind of a big deal. Phew! An out. What luck. So we decided to wait and see what was going to happen. A week later, we received the following notification:
We decided to go ahead and throw our names into the hat. Seriously, what are the chances we’d get picked for two of only 15,000 entries? And then, this…
Holy. Crap. Both of us were selected to register for the race! Well, at least we had two days to back out think about it. So over the next 48 hours we waxed and waned and talked and talked and waxed some more and waned some more. And with just a few hours left before the deadline…he bailed. That’s right. My baby. My birthday buddy. Fruit of my womb. The one and only reason I even entertained the thought of such craziness…he bailed. But of course he encouraged ME to enter. “C’mon, Mom! You can do it!” Um, sure. So now with just 11 minutes before the deadline and the clock tick-tick-ticking away, I did it. I actually registered for the 2013 Chicago Marathon!
And so begins my crazy journey toward the 2013 Chicago Marathon. I invite you to stop by for a visit and come along for the ride. It might not always be pretty, but at the very least, it’s going to be fun!
How about you? How did you get your running start? Did you start small, or did you start big? Have you ever done a marathon (or any other race, for that matter) without running experience or without training for the race? How did you do? I would love to hear your story!
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