Incapacitated for about 4 days, "g" nearly failed to reach the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Start Line. After 10 months of careful and excruciatingly thoughtful training to run his first marathon in May, and then back-to-back marathons in September and October, zeal nearly disabled our runner with sole. For some unexplainable reason, instead of an easy, restful weekend before the MCM, "g" hiked Rocky Ridge Summit. In the following week he could barely walk. He soaked in Epsom salt baths before and after work, and swallowed handfuls of anti-inflammatories! Barely two days before the race in DC, his legs were finally pain-free. He could walk, but could he run 26.2 miles?

Completing the Marine Corps Marathon would put the finishing touch on an extraordinary year of running for "g" and his merry band of jogging buddies. After all, it was merely two years ago he stepped off the treadmill and became a runner. At that time, the life of a marathoner wasn't part of "g's" running consciousness... and now he was ready to run his third in 10 months! But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. We at G-WeBconnect became a little curious about who the Marathonians actually were. So without further ado... G-WeB proudly presents... The Marathonians.

The Marathonians

The Marathonians are interesting. They run in snow, thunderstorms and weather so humid it feels like your wading in wallpaper paste. They have gear. Great running gear! And, plenty of it. They have GPS watches, altimeter and lap watches, stacks of Runner's World under their beds, boxes of carbohydrate gels and multivitamins, miscellaneous water bottles and hydration packs for every type of running condition and distance, scores of running shoes, and enough breathable clothing they can leave their lungs home on 20+ mile runs! They think they're pretty cool... their friends and spouses use other adjectives to describe their antics in sneakers. But! We at G-WeB marvel at their accomplishments. We figured it's time you meet these prancing runners with panache... those white-line joggers in sunburns... The Marathonians:

(1) Mr. Marathon (formerly, Marathon John -no relation to Marathon Jeannie): In his 40's, Mr. Marathon runs an average marathon pace of 8:00 to 8:30 minute miles. He's logged zillions of miles on the road and is obsessed with his training. His wife (understandably) worries a bit about his extreme outdoor adventures... but he's capable and competent in the field! "g" trusts him implicitly. (Of course, he's not married to the guy!)

2) Marathon Jeannie:
Creeping up on 41, Marathon Jeannie returns to long distance running after a first marathon in Phoenix in 2001 and twins in 2003. She's been training with a running club in Virginia to run the Marine Corps Marathon. She trained with intention to stomp past her aging brother-in-law at the Finish Line... poor, old "g".

3) Long Shots:
At a youthful 64, Long Shots is no skimpy-poo to the world of marathoning. He had just completed a very difficult Adirondack Distance Festival Marathon (4:10) with Mr. Marathon and "g" 5-weeks earlier. He had his sights on a 3:59 finish time for the MCM - a much flatter course. This guy has legs! And he delights in leaving "g" in the proverbial dust each race! (A very sore subject back at their office.)

4) "g":
New to everything about running, "g" believed he had the game plan and legs to run the MCM in 3:59. Although his first marathon in May was a sluggish 4:47 he had learned from his training mistakes and ran The Adirondack Distance Marathon in 4:32. With many hilly, 20+ runs leading up the MCM, he wasn't delirious with optimism for an under 4:00 finish time, but calculatingly purposeful with his training. We'll see..

Act 1: How Many Marathons
Can a Marathonian Jam Into 5 weeks?

Marathon Jeannie had no delusions. Time to train was at a premium with four children. She was only running the Marine Corps Marathon and then retiring to a life of half-marathons until her youngest children were in school. She would honored this decision.

Long Shots and "g" knew they only had 2 back-to-back marathons in them. They would pace themselves slower then usual at the Adirondack Marathon and then faster at the MCM five weeks later. In reality, both jammed fast and had remarkable times in the first marathon (Long Shots @ 4:10 and "g" @ 4:32)... but, only one zoomed faster at the MCM.

But! Mr. Marathon had grander plans. He would run 3 marathons back-to-back: (1) the Adirondack Distance Festival Marathon (Schroon Lake, NY) on 10/25/05; (2) the Mohawk Hudson Marathon (Albany, NY) two weeks later; and, (3) the Marine Corps Marathon three weeks after that! Here's how it pounded out on the pavement:

Although suffering with influenza in the Adirondack Marathon, Mr. Marathon passed "g" at the 20 mile marker and finished with a remarkable 4:20! He then ran a consistent (but agonizing) 8:30 minute mile pace in the Mohawk Hudson Marathon two weeks later. Much to everyone's surprise... running back-to-back marathons within 2 weeks of each other had transformed Mr. Marathon's legs into soggy stalks of corn husks... to which... he reluctantly withdrew from the MCM and took a premature vacation from running! (We understand he's resting comfortable on the beaches of Tahiti and receiving hourly leg massages. Lucky guy.)

So the answer to the question, How many marathons can a Marathonian run in 5 weeks, is apparently... two.