September 17, 2009

Six People for Six Point Two Miles

Though I’ve been slacking on posting in general lately, one area where I’ve really been slacking is with Take It and Run Thursday. I used to be really good about posting every week, but then I fell off the wagon. However, after reading the awesome question/answer on Sassy Molassy, I decided to jump back in and join the fun. This week’s question is, “You get to run the last six miles of your next marathon with 6 different people. They can be dead or alive; famous or not famous. Who are these people and why did you pick them? Furthermore, why did you pick them for the specific mile you did? Remember, you get an extra .2 miles with runner #6.”

Now that I’m just about halfway done with my 50 states, I’ve been thinking a lot about who I want to be there to see me finish. Moreover, I’ve been thinking about what exactly I’d like to do to make my finish special. I’m considering recruiting people to run with me, but I could also go the other way and shoot for a PR. For this post, however, I’m going to assume I’m going with the former. I’ll also follow the rules about not having to be realistic, so there are a few celebs thrown in here 🙂 However, I’m going to bend the rules for one thing: rather than just having the person/people in question join me for one mile and then drop off, I’d like to have them keep running with me all the way to the finish line. So without further adieu…

Mile 20 – Fellow running bloggers. Doing the 50 states has given me a chance to meet some of you, but there have been missed connections, states I’ve done before I “met” you online, and even big states where I’m not close enough to your hometowns. In my dream race, you all would join me at mile 20 for a nice little 10K to the finish line. (Also, you’re all probably the most likely to actually be able to run 6.2 miles, as opposed to some of the later guests).

Mile 21 – Jillian Michaels. You all know I am so obsessed with The Biggest Loser, and I think Jillian is just awesome. Plus, I consider mile 21 to be one of the worst of the last 6, so right about here I could use some inspiration in the form of someone yelling at me like a drill sergeant to keep going 🙂

Mile 22 – My old grade school gym teachers and my old grade school music teachers. I was always the absolute worst gym student and the slowest runner in my whole grade, clocking in with something like a 15 minute mile every time we did the annual fitness test. The gym teachers were never mean about it or anything, but I would still love for them to see me at mile 23 of a marathon, still going strong. And as for the music teachers, they all know how much more musically inclined I was than athletically inclined – I’d love for them to see me doing anything I put my mind to. As they say on The Office (hurray, it’s back tonight!): suck it!

Mile 23 – Rascal Flatts. A caveat with this one: I don’t want him to actually run with me. Instead, I’d like Rascal and the band to be on some sort of rolling wagon, serenading me with my favorite inspirational songs. One mile is about three songs, so I’d like to hear:

  • No Reins (“She said, “Oh, oh, I gotta go and find me”/Oh, oh she found the strength to break free/Like a painted wild mustang/Flyin’ out across the open range/Finally gets to live her life that way/No fear, no fences, nobody-no reins”)
  • Stand (“You feel like a candle in a hurricane/Just like a picture with a broken frame/Alone and helpless, like you’ve lost your fight/But you’ll be all right, you’ll be all right/Cause when push comes to shove/You taste what you’re made of/You might bend till you break/Cause it’s all you can take/On your knees you look up/Decide you’ve had enough/You get mad, you get strong/Wipe you hands, shake it off/Then you stand/Every time you get up and get back in the race/One more small piece of you starts to fall into place”)
  • Where You Are (“I’m a thirsty man, Let me drink you in/I am on my way, you’re a mountain top/When I reach for you, your love lifts me up/All that I want is to be where you are”)

That last song will bring me into the final miles with my favorite people in the world…

(Rascal Flatts will now switch to “Secret Smile”: “Baby, you make the sun shine down/You can paint the darkest clouds and turn them into rainbows/You take your secret smile/The one that turns me on/You’ve been what I’ve waited for”)
Mile 24 – Boyfriend. I don’t think much explanation is needed here, except that I’ve wanted to finish a marathon with him for the longest time, but he doesn’t have the time or inclination to train. He could definitely handle two miles, though, and I want him with me sooner rather than later, which is why I’m giving him the second to last slot instead of the last one.

(Rascal Flatts will now switch to “Me and My Gang”: “Beer and bonfires/Wide open throttle, Coors in a bottle/It’s all for one and ONE FOR ALL Y’ALL/It’s a brother and a sister kinda thang/Raise up your hands if you all wanna hang with/Me and my gang/We live to ride, we ride to live/Me and my gang/Jump on that train/Grab a hold of them reins/We gonna rock this thang, cock this thang/Me and my gang”)
Mile 25 – Finally, I want to be joined by my family. My dad used to be extremely athletic and tried for years to get me to play soccer/tennis/etc, all to no avail. He’s still never seen me finish a marathon, though I’m hoping to make it happen this fall. My mom has been my biggest supporter for everything in my life, taking an active role in everything I did from musical theater to marathons. A few decades ago, she used to run, and I would love to have her finish a marathon with me. My brothers and their wives (one is a fiancee now, but they’ll be married by the time this happens); my new sister-in-law, Jenn, actually runs and we did the Cooper River Bridge Run together last year. Finally, my little sister is only 6 years old, but she totally looks up to me and idolizes me, and she’s told my dad over and over that she wants to do a marathon like me. Well, here’s her chance to cross the finish line!

At mile 26, I’d do my usual kiss-my-hand-then-slap-the-mile-marker-then-sprint-off, to wild applause from the crowds as I came through the chute. But best of all? The finish photo would totally suck, because it would be a huge shot of my back, as I turn around to get to watch all my favorite people come in right behind me.

Now… can anyone help me make this happen? 🙂

This post was written as a part of Runners’ Lounge’s Take It And Run Thursday, in which runners from all across the running blogging community come together to post about a single topic. This week’s theme was Six People for Six Point Two Miles.
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17 thoughts on “Six People for Six Point Two Miles”

  1. Love the rascal flatts caviat. I too would want them singing along with me as I run! After I finished mine I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put the bf in there. Jillian would be an AWESOME motivator. Good call.

  2. Oh man. Back in the 2nd or 3rd grade we had to do a half mile run for the Presidential Fitness Test and I found my times a few years back. 11 minutes! I ended up running in HS with my best 1/2 mile at 2:35. I kind of want to frame that 11 minute certificate next to my race bibs and medals. Nice to see how far you’ve come (and for others to see it too!). 🙂

  3. SCORE! I made the list @ mile 20. Suck on THAT Elvis, George Washington, Abe Lincoln and everyone else who makes the “people to meet alive or dead” lists!

  4. Hey, Laura! No pasta party for me – I am going to convince my husband to make me dinner. I’ll be looking for you, though. Are you going to wear your Maniacs singlet?

    I’ll be there early on race day for a group photo with my running club. If you see a group of people in obnoxiously neon yellow t-shirts, come find me! Otherwise, I’ll be running in a bright blue singlet and Race Ready skirt!

  5. OMG, I have SO been slacking with the TIARTs too! But wow, this was a good one . . . I’m so sad I missed it!

    I LOVE your list. It would be SO amazing to have Rascal Flats playing . . . I really like that idea! And, of course, Jillian would HAVE to be there 🙂

  6. Sorry to be totally bitchy, but……. Rascal Flatts is not actually a person, it’s a band, and the member’s names are Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus, Joe Don Rooney. Sorry, it just totally bugs me when people think that’s actually a person’s name.

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