Another Year, Another Marathon

The drive to run another marathon has been percolating under my skin for a few weeks. Even as the cold wind blows and the streets are covered in snow and ice, I could never completely curb the idea of running another 26.2 miles.

This year, I wanted to run something other than the Green Bay Marathon. It's nice and all but after a couple years, a change is scenery is always a good thing. I had initially thought about the Fargo Marathon. It has received great reviews (yes, people review races) and, North Dakota might as well be a foreign country to me. Not exactly sunny skies and warm beaches, but exotic for its own vastness.

North Dakota as seen from I-90.

Alas, after talking with my wife, we decided that this year we want to go on our summer vacation at the end of May, so this ruled out Fargo, Green Bay, and a few others.

Summer marathons have never appealed to me because I am not a fan of training during hot summer days. I was miserable when I prepared for the Chicago marathon several years ago (obviously being woefully clueless about how to train did not help). Besides, if last summer was any indication, I am going to favor my golf shoes over my running shoes from June to August.

So this meant that the marathon had to be run at the beginning of May. Surprisingly, there were a couple options: the Pittsburgh Marathon and the Cincinnati Marathon. Both have received excellent reviews as being exceptionally well organized, strongly supported by the community, and very "scenic" routes in the sense you see a lot of each city. I would love to return to my home state and run across all the bridges, but...

Since the races are on Sunday and school is still in session at UWM, I need to return to work on Monday, even if it is with a limp and a grimace on my face. Cincinnati is about 6.5 hours away while Pittsburgh is about 9.5. The former will make for a much more manageable drive after the race. So, I decided on the Flying Pig Marathon.

I almost did not get in. I dragged my feet registering for the race and only did so at the very end of January, the day before a $10 price increase. Apparently, I was not alone. When I went to register in the evening, I was greeted with this message: 

Sure enough, for the first time EVER, the marathon sold out! The reason being that it is the race's 20th anniversary. I put my name on the wait list and then started to think more about Pittsburgh. Fortunately, I did not have to think about Pittsburgh for too long. The next day, the organizers opened up the registration to those individuals on the wait list. Upon receiving the email, I did not hesitate to sign up for the race on May 6. Let the training begin!