Wirefly National Marathon

My friends and I have been looking at the possibility of participating in the 3-day walk, which has had me and them all hitting the treadmills and walking dogs more to get ourselves into shape. This has had me thinking more and more about doing a bit more running. I've never really been a runner before, even when facing down what I am still sure was a bear one dark evening in Washington with my nephews I chose to stand and face the threat down with a handful of shishkibob skewers and a 3" pen knife rather than run (things obviously turned out in our favor). I used to go for long walks, literally walking up the side of a mountain to see what the next valley looked like, then down into the valley and halfway up the next mountain before turning around and heading back for home.

I've got out of being able to go on long walks though, and don't do as much running as I want to be able to because of my dad's health making it difficult to go far from the house without a quick means for getting back home if I am needed.

So, I bought a treadmill and have been working my way back into shape on it. But I find that a goal helps me to get into a much better mood for getting on the treadmill several times a week (or preferably daily). My goal has been the thought of going on charity walks with my friends, but I am trying to work my way toward running on the treadmill, so I am looking into other opportunities as well.

Such as the Wirefly National Marathon. One of the benefits of having friends online is that I have places I can stay almost anywhere I look. I'm sure that R and her daughter would allow a few days house guest if I asked (wouldn't you? :-D), and they live just a short drive outside of Washington D.C.

Following a scenic route past landmarks such as the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument, this 26 mile marathon takes you from Independence Ave up as far as Michigan Ave and then back down to the start at the historic RFK Stadium.

In addition to the full marathon, there is a half marathon (more along the lines of my kind of goal) that runs part of the same route down as far as the Lincoln Memorial, then goes back up and branches off from the full marathon to continue along Minnesota to E Capitol St and back to RFK Stadium.

This is the second year for this marathon and it is USATF certified as a Boston qualifier for those who will be going on to run in Boston. (I think I'll wait a little while before I try for something like Boston.)

Online registration for the Wirefly National Marathon is now open, so check into the site.

This post is sponsored by
National Marathon via PPP