T- 9 hours and counting on the road to DC and the Marine Corps Marathon.

So this is it. A fitful few hours of sleep and I’ll be off to the start of my 11th marathon. The training runs have been done, the expo has been explored, and the carbs have been loaded. All that remains is for the race to be run.

I can’t speak for any of my fellow marathon runners, but even after having done ten of these, I still get nervous (or should that be ‘excited’?) as hell before each and every one of these.

It’s definitely become a ‘thing’, this running habit of mine, something I often underestimate during the long months of training that have gotten me to this point. I couldn’t have imagined even just a few years ago that I would call myself a runner, yet it’s become something so integral to my way of life today that it’s hard to believe it was just 5 1/2 years ago that I crossed my first marathon start line.

I’m grateful I found this ‘thing’ in my life, and whatever time I manage to complete the course in tomorrow, there is no doubt in my mind that I’m a better person for having made the commitment to do it.

Speaking of gratitude:

Thank you Jo – for the years of love, support, encouragement and dare I say tolerance of my habit. Without you I don’t ever make it to the start line xxx.

Thank you to my girls – my inspiration for each and every step.

Thank you to Yoko, Adam and family. My extended running family since the very first race, and here with us yet again.

Thank you to Ken for his wonderful hospitality and generosity to us on this visit. Amazing.

Thank you to all my friends and family, runners and non-runners alike. So many of you have inspired and encouraged me in ways you won’t even realize, whether through your own achievements and dedication to your own passions, or just even a friendly acknowledgment of what I’m up to here.

Finally, thank-you to The Marines, to whom this marathon is dedicated. Us runners make some small personal sacrifices along the way to achieve a goal of running of 26.2 miles. As I run tomorrow I shall do my very best to keep these efforts in proper perspective and remember all that you, and your brothers and sisters in arms do and have done, all too often paying the ultimate price, in defense of the rest of us, without question or debate. It will truly be an honor to ‘Run With The Marines’.

Goodnight, and good luck tomorrow everyone.

Rob