Run, run, as fast as you can...

I usually don't run unless something is chasing me and I don't think I would run a marathon if my life depended on it.  In fact, I have an asthma attack just thinking about it. 

Now, with that being said, I'm very proud of John Ralph and five of his friends for finishing the Luxembourg marathon on Saturday. 

It was a night marathon, so it started at 7:00 pm.  I don't know what I would do if I had to go an entire day anticipating the fact that I was about to have to run twenty six miles. 

On your mark, get set, GO!

To be honest, I'm very surprised I was able to notice them as they ran by.  I'm even more surprised that I was quick enough to get a few pictures.  There were about 4,000 people running, so at times it was like finding a needle in a haystack. 

This was almost half way through, and right along this time I saw John Ralph chatting it up with some guy beside him.  I just want to say (in the nicest way possible) that it annoys me so badly when John Ralph wants to carry on a conversation while you're running or working out.  I get it...you're a freak of nature and you can run laps around me any day of the week...but I would like to use the air in my lungs to keep me from passing out, not to talk about what you did last weekend. 

This picture is blurry because he was running so fast.  I think his speed was somewhere between Mach 3 and Mach 5. 

John Ralph's official time was 3:33:36, but this was the clock right as he finished.  The winner ran it in 2:13:45.  That's like running a five minute mile over and over again for 26 miles.  Twenty six miles is like going from my house in Little Mountain all the way to downtown Columbia.  I wonder if anyone has ever told these people they can get places faster by driving, and if they time it right, they can even miss all the traffic.

All done. 

Part of me tried to think about training for a shorter race later this year.  But then I thought about it again (as I was enjoying my McDonald's for dinner that night) and decided I could list about 7,369 other things I would rather do. 

 These guys really did amaze me and I am so proud of them for wanting to run this marathon.  I'm even more proud of them for actually finishing.  They have way more motivation than I could ever dream of.