Did you know...

The word marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "Νενικήκαμεν" (Nenikékamen, 'We have won.') before collapsing and dying.

The man DIED! He died and now it is a sporting event that people do for fun. Fun?! Ha, if feeling like your thighs are going to explode, every step you take is a knife in the calf, your feet feeling like they are bruised, nipples bleeding, thighs chaffing, and not being able to walk for a few days after is fun, then yes... it was a blast. Well, at least my nipples didn't bleed. But as you can see in this picture, that guy's did. (I am behind the lady in pink).

Aside from the wind and the rain, I was actually ok for the first 20 miles, but then my iPod died, and then I died. Every mile felt like 5 after that. I got passed by an 85 year old man wearing an American flag speedo. I just thought to myself, "I'm sure he has done this before, I just need to keep running." Towards the end there was a lady hold a sign that said, "Only 7 more blocks to go!" I wanted to punch her in the face. Those were the longest seven blocks of my life. But when I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I got a little boost of energy. Then I saw Megan cheering for me, which was not what I was expecting being that that morning when I woke up, she was laughing at me telling me that I was going to die or something like that.

Well, in the end my time was 3hrs and 55min. My goal was to make it under 4 hrs and never stop running, which I was able to do. Aside from my short bathroom break, which I think made things worse.

Megan, my sister-in-law Rachel, and I went to Vegas afterwards. I looked like a retarded Frankenstein walking around the strip. I couldn't get into our car, I had to fall into it. I don't think I have ever been in that much pain.

I still don't understand why people run those things. I think they are slightly masochistic. I think everyone that runs them for fun are out of their minds.

On that note, I think I am going to sign up to run in the Ogden Marathon in May and the St. George again next year.