That was the question being asked all around Ellerbe, North Carolina yesterday, as an old codger with the number "94" pinned to him was seen seemingly wandering aimlessly around town. That old codger being me. And the wandering being my running (loosely defined) of the Ellerbe Springs Marathon.
If you read my prior blog, you are aware of my hope of advancing my starting position for the Comrades Marathon by running a sub-4:00 hour marathon at Ellerbe. That worked out fine, as I had a race time of 3:42:09. That makes me pretty special! (Let's ignore the fact that Cory, who is 2 1/2 years older than me ran 21 minutes faster on the Fargo Marathon last May. I mean, come on, guys. If you insist on comparing me to people who are actually good at things, my boasting is going to be terribly damaged.)
I can honestly say that I did earn a coveted "Not-The-Last-To-Finish" award (well, not an official award), thanks to the presence of a few coots even older, slower and more delusional than me, and those couple of young guys who decide the night before the race "Let's run that marathon tomorrow", without having done any training. Foolish boys! You need to leave that sort of stupidity to trained professionals. Right, Cory?
Anyway, let me express my thanks to the nice people of the Mangum Track Club in Ellerbe. You couldn't ask for a friendlier or better run marathon. And a special thanks to the 8- or 9-year-old boy just past mile 23 who told me as I went past, "Way to go! You're number 10!" pause as I give him a questioning look "You're the 10th runner since I started counting!" With enthusiastic support like that, of course I had a good race!
