OCR Text |
Show THE SAN JUAN RECORD Wednesday, October 9, 2002 Page 24 Tragedy, Democracy & the Marathon My training motto for this marathon has been No Guts ...No Glory. My racing shirt even says that. I have a six hour drive to St. George to con-templa- tc running my 12th and final m a r a her to move her pompous had the marathon course lengthened to go from Windsor Castle to her royal box seats. That is how we arrived at the modern day marathon distance 26 miles 385 yards. y daughter Nikki be- hind; so by royal decree she -- thon. M Highness the Queen Mother decided that since England was hosting the Olympics, she wanted to watch the end ofthe race from her throne (and I dont mean throne the way you and I mean throne). It was too much trouble for al-- w a y s by Gary Torres says, "That which doesnt kill you will ultimately make you stronger." can only think about, "Yaahhhh...But what if it does I kill you?" I mean running 26 miles as fast as you can isnt the smartest thing to do. Going 26 miles sounds more like a Sunday drive in a car.. .than a distance to run. It has been written that the ancient Greeks gave us tragedy, democracy, and the marathon. I hope that tragedy and marathon arent synonyms. Have you seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? If not, go see it. A great line from the movie is, "The root of every word comes from a Greek word. Ill show you." Marathon comes from the Greek words Mara-whi- ch means stupid man that to run in races for a pays means and thon-whi- ch ridiculously long distance. There it, marathon--whic- h means stupid man that to pays run a ridiculously long distance for a How smart can running a marathon be? Remember, someone said, "Those that dont study history are destined to repeat it." This worries me, since the origin of the marathon was precarious at best. Not many sports kill the first participant and have a successful future. There have been many marathoners since, me in- cluded, who have cursed the Queen Mother for the extra 1.2 miles. I knew that it was a good idea that we kicked the English out of the country and established our democracy. So there you have it, a history lesson of sorts covering tragedy, democracy, and the marathon. However, we havent even made it to the start line. This has been the strangest trip. I get to the motel and they give me a smoking room. I am here to run a marathon and they give me a smoking room. I have had stomach cancer and they give me a smoking room. I argue with the lady, but she doesnt have any other rooms, "take it or leave it" so I take.it. Then I go to pick up my race packet. Through some cosmic administrative accident, I am grouped with the elite runners, you know, the Kenyans and other Olympic hopefuls. I am flattered that I will have a special colored race number that lets me start in front of almost all 4,300 runners. But, it will be embarrassing when I am beaten by 4,299 of them. I decide to go for a two mile run to loosen up from the long drive. I cant run! My knee hurts and I am wheezing like Norm climbing Mount Kilimaijero without his oxygen bottle. I am a little panicked now and call my too kind and loving wife. I tell her to cancel the trip over here because it wont be worth her time. She calms me and tells me I always sound that bad when I run. Not exactly a vote of confidence. But I don't have much choice, I am here in St. George with running shoes and nothing to do for two days. The race starts at 6:45 a.m. Saturday. I run the first ten miles in just under seven minutes per mile. Things are looking good. But I soon realize I made a tactical mistake. I the night couldnt carbo-loa- d before the race and I havent ingested enough fluids and food during the race. I am running out of energy fast. I try to make up for it by drinking more at the next wa- have only hit the wall one time. I know what to expect and this is going to be ugly, but I cant bring myself to quit because I know I am going to have to write about this. Besides, Nikkis note before the race said, "The greatest challenge is not to out run others, but to out run ourselves." The positive spin is that 4,226 runners finished the race. I took 822th. That means that the 3,404 runners behind me would probably be happy with the time I ran. On the other hand, 821 runter stop, but get stabbing cramps. I hit the wall at mile ners were in front of me. Dee, 16, which means instead of Matthew, Daniel, Chad, Ang, running seven minute miles I Ethan, and Spencer were at can only run nine minute the finish line. I tried to smile, miles. I know that I am in but it takes too much energy trouble, I know that the next so I just lifted one finger in a ten miles are going to be a trail lame attempt to acknowledge of tears and pain. their enthusiasm and support. I have doubts. I wonder I finished in 3:31:03, slower whether I should just pull up than I wanted, but I finished. and quit. My body is slowing, My training motto becomes every step hurts, and my mind a statement of fact, No Guts... is trying to escape. I run mile No Glory. Sure enough... no 23 in ten minutes. medals, no awards, no ribbons, I ran the first 13 miles in 90 no winners circle... just a minutes, the next 13 miles middle of the pack finish took me 120 minutes. I have among many exhausted runrun twelve marathons and ners that gave it their best. SAN JUAN HEALTH SERVICES DISTRICT is pleased to announce (jxpanefeef 3fospitafSurgicalServices e you-hav- Legend has it that Pheidip-pide- s, a Greek messengerrun-ner- , ran from Marathon to Athens to inform the local gen- eral that the Persians had been beaten. Upon arriving, he wheezed, "Rejoice. We con- quer!" And then he flopped over dead. Hows that for tragedy? By the way, the root of (Dr. DCeoin JlCalleson Pheidippides is "Dip" which is Greek for "dumb runner". Not exactly a great start for a new sport... what with the death of Pheidippides and all. Dr. &miy Sutcliffe General Surgeon 06steiricia.nl gynecologist Gall Bladder Laparoscopic Surgery Hernia Repair Biopsy (ail kinds) Thyroidectomy Tonsillectomy Adenoidectomy Hemorroidectomy Amputation Colonoscopy Skin Cancer Removal Endoscopy Breast Biopsy Mastectomy Exploratory Surgery gynecological Surgery After the law suits were settled in Athens, people decided to use carrier pigeons to send messages for several hundred years. But in 1896, someone stumbled upon the story of Pheidippides and decided that perhaps the marathon to the should be modern day Olympics. Of course, he failed to mention that the ancient Greeks participated in the Olympics naked as a Jay Bird. Bubba always says, "Anything naked is better than the same thing not naked, except for ice fishing." So just how long is the marathon? The first marathon was 25 miles. But one year, her Hysterectomy (vaginal & abdominal) Oophorectomy (ovaries) Laparotomy D&C Cone Biopsy Tubal Ligation San Juan Health Services District Quality Care at Home 9P San Juan Hospital & Clinic 435-587-21- 16 Blanding Birthing Center & Clinic |