The Holiday Marathons

In the Vietnamese language, there is a phrase, "Thời Thế Tạo Anh Hùng" which translates to "the situation creates the hero."  In other words, for all scheming and planning, sometimes events just happen and you have to react accordingly.

The weekends before the St. Louis Marathon, there were half-marathons that I wanted to sign up for.  First, there was a half-marathon in Flushing Meadow Park on April 2, then there was the Unite 13.1 run at Rutgers University the week after.  I think the runners community in the tri-state area is big enough to support more than the NYRR and thought of supporting these other organizations.  Still, I figured I better get some good rest before and after the marathon.  The big day came and it was too hot in St. Louis and the race was shortened to a half-marathon.  Only those fast enough to reach the midpoint of the marathon at a certain time were allowed to continue.  It was a big disappointment for me.  No problem, I will just sign up for other races closer to home.  Alas, the Unite 13.1 run was already mostly filled up, with some spots left on race day.  While I somewhat looked forward to the long trip via subway and light-rail to Newark, I would only go there if I have a guaranteed spot in the race.  Scratch that one.  Then there is the Long Island Marathon weekend of May 1.  Again, because of some shuffling of personnel at work, my on-call dooty got moved up a week.  That is right, from May 8 to May 1.  While it is good that I will be able to do something undisturbed (hopefully) on Mother's Day, now my hope for Long Island Marathon is dashed.

But wait, there is a ray of hope!  Coming up this weekend is the Easter Marathons, one in a series of The Holidays Marathons.  Instead of stuffing our faces with food, or, shudder, go shopping, how about running in a race for the holidays?  The Holiday Marathons has races of varying distances - 10K, Half-Marathon, Full-Marathon, etc.  All free and commitment-free!  No registration, just show up on time and run.  Maybe not totally free if you fork over some donation amount, but the suggestion donation amount is still not as much as the typical race that I usually register for.

I plan to run a half-marathon in the Easter Marathon.  It is a trail run and I am not familiar with the area of Van Cordlandt Park so a half will do.  Eventually, I will definitely do a full-marathon.  There will be no medal but I just want to know if I can do it.  Check them out at http://www.theholidaymarathons.com/