Yep, believe it or not, Josh ran a marathon on October 24, 2004.

It was a beautiful, beautiful run – twenty six miles and 385 yards from the Albright Knox museum in Buffalo to the old power station on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. I got to cross over the Peace Bridge, and ran through customs and immigration. I ran along the river all the way on the Canadian side, and could hear the falls starting a mile or so from the finish.

Here’s the course map:

The weather was perfect for running, forty or so, with some light drizzle off and on. That doesn’t mean it was perfect for my cheering section, though. Kudos to them for coming out, for hanging out together, and for sticking through the long, long day. Of course, Jen was there too, who do you think was holding the camera?

After taking an early morning bus from Canada back to Buffalo, the race organizers opened up the Albright-Knox Art Gallery to the runners. It was an incredible hour or so walking through this top tier contemporary art museum with a thousand runners waiting to run. We all were stretching, listening to music, and gearing up in this cultured setting that somehow seemed appropriate anyway. On a surreal day, it was the perfect beginning.

Finally, we were off. I started last, because I wanted to be able to count my way up the rankings as the day went on. The weather wasn’t great for pictures, and I only got to see the cheering section four times on the road, but we did manage to get a picture of me actually running my first marathon.

I have my hands up in victory, even though I’ve only run 12 miles by this point. It was that kind of a day. Each step, even the painful ones that came later, was icing on the cake of a year of running and six months of training for the marathon. I ran 800 miles getting ready for this day. With my slow pace, that’s more than 140 hours on my feet, being passed by people twice and half my age, freezing and boiling, and wondering why I smoked for 15 years and sat on my growing behind for 30. I knew I could run the marathon that day, and it was all a very long victory lap. Having Jen and our families there just made it that much sweeter.

I stuck with my plan, and for once I was the one passing other runners as the day went on. By the end, I had passed 122 runners, and finished 764th. My half splits were within six minutes of each other, and I crossed the line four hours, fifty-five minutes and eleven seconds after I started. I beat my goals, both public and private. How did it feel? It felt like this:

This is the picture after I composed myself somewhat. That took a minute or two.

I couldn’t have done it without Jen’s support. It was more than giving up some of our limited time together to have me go run for five hours every weekend. It was also never once laughing at the idea that I could do it, and keeping me going when I thought I was being ridiculous.

I’ve reclaimed my weekend mornings for the time being, but I’ve starting taking swim lessons at the YMCA, and spending more time on the stationary bike. Keep an eye on this space, who knows where I could be in a couple years. I’m thinking I may even try for a “loose screw” medal in 2006. Who’s with me?

Okay, enough – let’s go back