Running A Marathon Is Awesome (And You Should Totally Try It!)

Last weekend was NYC marathon weekend.
On Sunday morning runners from all over the world gathered in New York to achieve one goal: Crossing the finish line after running 26.2 miles.
Now before you look the other way, mumbling “Not another post about marathons please”, bear with me for a couple of minutes, and let me just explain you why I believe you should try completing a marathon - at least once in your life.

Let's set things straight: Running a marathon is not easy. 26.2 miles will make your feet scream in pain; it will give you blisters the size of California; it will cause you chafe places you didn’t know could actually chafe (nipples anyone?); your quads and calves will scream for mercy; you will curse yourself for getting into such a thing; and at times you will hate every single person around you or far from you (especially whoever convinced you to do it in the first place).
Marathons are an awesome experience because they are intense.
Throughout the 3 to 4 (to 5, to 6, to 7, to 8?) hours it’ll take you to complete the marathon, there will be times when your legs will feel like they’re made of concrete, when every breath becomes more labored than the last, and when every step feels worse than the previous one.
You are going to ask yourself “Why. I. Am. Doing. This???”
Because you’re there, by yourself, and no one else but you can take you to the finish line.
Not at every single mile will be “dark” though; for the most part you’ll have a lot of fun.
Crowds cheering you up along the way; people screaming your Bib number “Go 16-754!” (yeah, besides your friends & family, nobody knows your name); a bystander high-fiving you; another one handing you a banana or an energy bar.
And then there are the fellow runners. It might seem odd but all these strangers running alongside you suddenly become like old friends. You don’t know anything about them but - just like you - they have to run those 26.2 miles so you might as well support each other.
A bunch of awesome things happen while you’re running.
Those things will make the marathon one of the best experiences of your life. And you’ll want to come back for more.
By the time you’ll cross the finish line, it will all be worth it.
Your body might be a mess, but all you can think about is “I made it, I made it, I made it!”
You’ve completed a marathon, you’re now a proud member of an elite club. You have pushed your body through thick and thin, and you’ve succeeded.
You might be lying on a stretcher with painful cramps while a stranger is trying to help you cope with it, but you’re on top of the world and that’s just - let me tell you - the best feeling ever!