Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Marathon Runner

On Sunday of last week we had the Twin Cities Marathon. Somewhere around 10,000 people ran in the marathon. It was a huge event.

My coworker and friend, Joe, came in 89th place overall with a time of 2:50:52. He came in 70th in the mens. Not bad for a 26.2 mile run. I was reading about the results in the paper, and looking for Joe's name when I came across an article about this nut:

His name is Dean Karnazes, and he has committed to running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. Yup, you heard me right, a marathon a day for 50 days.

Why would he do such a thing? you might ask. According to the paper, it is to "promote fitness among children".

Dude, did that guy just say he was doing it to get kids to exercise more? Cuz, I gotta be honest with you, just thinking about running a marathon every day makes we want to sit on the couch and eat a pack of candy bars. You know, for energy.

This makes me glad I'm an engineer. I'm pleasantly plump, reasonably intellegent, and sorta healthy. I have no delusions that doing what I do is going to inspire kids get into shape.

Plus, after he runs his 50, then what? Me, I'll still be able to sit here and make fun of him for a looooong time.

In any case, congrats, Joe.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

sooooooo, i wonder what day his heart will explode? i say day 23....

Benjamin said...

Greetings, Anonymous!

My personal vote is for day 49 - there's just something ironic about getting almost to the end and not entirely making it.

And, um, not to be rude, but who are you?

Eric Olson said...

Everything you ever needed to know about yourself you can learn in 26.2 miles.. those aren't my words but salient nonetheless.

Also, I hate to depart from this sweaty issue, but I'd like to put a plug for this book I just read, "what jesus meant." It is short and sweat and written by a catholic.. there is one chapter in particular that is fabulous. Also, I already read it so..

I'll check up on your blog, it seems interesting..

Anonymous said...

it was me ben, don't know why my name didn't show-- i did put it in.

Benjamin said...

Eric:

No, I haven't read "What Jesus Meant", but I'll put it on my reading list. I just got done reading some heavy theological books, so a 172 pager seems right up my alley. I'll let you know what I think.

And you know what's funny? I'm one of those people who can learn everything I need to know about myself in the time it takes to mow the lawn. I don't know if that's good or bad....

Eric Olson said...

ignorance is bliss :)