Another state bites the dust in my quest to run a marathon in all 50 states - but not the one I intended.
Things have an uncanny way of working out. Months ago I made plans to run the Memphis Marathon on December 5. Plane tickets, check. Hotel reservations, check. Rental car, check. The days passed and training was progressing just fine. Two weeks to the marathon, just one more detail to take care of, registration for the event. Go to the web site, navigate to the online registration section, oh no! It's full! Call the race director and he tells me "no chance" - he has already turned away 100 other slackers like me.
For a second it pops into my mind that I could run the course without being registered. This is a bad idea and would be like stealing. I would have no aid stations and no official finish. I could go as a a tourist and not run the race, which would be another bad idea and total waste of my training. My friends know that I'm going to Memphis to run a marathon and I would have nothing to report in the blog. So I check an online marathon schedule and luckily there is a marathon in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The drive is 370 miles from Memphis, should take six hours each way.
Painfully, I sit down with my wife and spill the beans, telling her something she knows all too well. I'm a slacker. Took care of so many details, but missed a small one - registering for the race. "Honey, how would you like to drive with me from Memphis to Baton Rouge, six hours? We can drive back to Memphis Saturday afternoon, do Graceland Sunday as planned."
I guess the years being married to me have paid off. She didn't even seemed surprised. She was up for the adventure, so we went and had a blast. Too bad in a way it probably serves to reinforce the slacker in me.
I will tell you more about the weekend and the marathon itself in my next post. Until then, I look forward to hearing from any of you who have the same slackerly tendencies I have. I would love to hear of good results that have come in unpredictable ways, and also if you are an ex-slacker who has seen the light.
I wish you well in your fitness quest.