26 wake-ups until Marathon Day!

Wow, this is the month! The month of my marathon! I'm super excited and figured I would share with you all some facts about marathons:

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards)
In 2011, there were approximately 518,000 marathon finishers in the United States
Over 350 individuals have completed a marathon in each state of the United States
In 2005, the average marathon time in the US was 4 hours 32 minutes 8 seconds for men, 5 hours 6 minutes 8 seconds for women
In 2010 ING NYC Marathon was the largest marathon in the world with 44,977 participants
There are approximately 570 marathons held in the US annually
As of 2012 only 0.5% of the US population has run a marathon

As I was researching some of these statistics I came across an article that made my blood boil. It was entitled "Plodders have a Place, but is it in a Marathon?" Essentially the author questions the integrity of the event as the average pace gets slower and slower each year while more and more "average" runners enter these races. They say it's no longer an elite sport and fast marathoners are complaining. Once source quotes,

3 miler tonight

“I always ask those people, ‘What was your time?’ If it’s six hours or more, I say, ‘Oh great, that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it,’ ” said Given, who finished the Baltimore race in 4:05:52. “The mystique of the marathon still exists. It’s the mystique of the fast marathon.”

Um. really?! Excuse me?! I haven't ran a marathon yet, and I do have a personal goal of beating the 5 hour mark, but regardless of what my time goal is 4 hrs or 7 hours, this yuppy's opinion is just offensive! I follow Jeff Galloways- a former OLYMPIAN's- run/walk method; I run 3 minutes, walk 1. I for damn sure say that after completeing 26.2 miles I am a marathoner. Runners world says 0.5% of the US population completes a marathon so how much more elite can this event get? Less than 1% subject themselves to the glorious torture that is training for a marathon. Those in the front of the pack can race, no one is stopping them, what do they care if someone finishes 3 hours after they do. It doesn't take anything away from their race. That is what I love about this sport, we are all on our own journey, only racing against our own demons. I feel sorry for the runner who can't figure that out. You can read it in it's ridiculous entirety here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/sports/23marathon.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

On a another note, I had a fantastic Easter. I caved to that second helping of Grandma's mashed potatoes, and indulged in two desserts, but to my surprise I didn't pack on any extra pounds. I will share with you picture of my cuties...