An introduction............

I just came home from the ING New York City Marathon feeling uninspired. I have to imagine that I was in the minority of the 39K+ runners and over 2 million spectators that witnessed the race.

Here I am at one of the world's largest Marathons and all of these people are making the accomplishment of a lifetime, and I yawn. It is just another day to me. It sounds insensitive, I know, but Marathoning has just gone so mainstream that it is old news. Some people run for health. Some people run for this cause or that cause, or has a story about how they are running for their mother's brother's cousin's neighbor's former roommate that has cancer. Some people actually run for fun - and to those I say, please do yourself a favor and buy yourself an animal or an X-Box if you actually think this is fun.

Don't get me wrong, because I love what I do. This is the 6th long distance running event I have been to this year as an employee of the sponsorship department at ING (the large financial institution, and not to be confused with IMG, AIG, KEG, or any other company that ends in a "G"). ING is one of the foremost sponsors "of runners everywhere" and of course, the title sponsor of the ING New York City Marathon.

Needless to say, as part of my job I hang out with a lot of runners and people in the running industry. My bosses are runners. My coworkers are runners. They all talk about the latest running gear and the newest Orange Yogurt flavor of PowerBar, blah blah frickin blah.

I am definitely NOT a runner. While other people like to get up at 5AM and run 5 miles, my preference is to sleep in or to "run" to Chick-fil-A or McDonald's. And usually in meetings, I weigh more than any two people in the room combined. So what the hell am I doing at a company that practically lives and breathes running? I'd say it is because I am smart and good at sponsorship marketing, but then again I was one of the ones who tested the banana peel on the kitchen floor and the stepping on the rake trick from the Looney Tunes cartoons as a kid (for your reference - yes, you do slip on the peel and yes, the rake does hurt when it smacks you between the eyes).

So I get up yesterday and decided I was going to train for and run a Marathon. I am not the healthiest person in the world, but I am not running for health - and if you have seen me, then you know exactly what I am talking about. I am not running for a cause because all of those are taken. And I am almost assuredly not running for fun.

I am running because I see it as a very sick and painful game. When I say I am going to run a Marathon, I see people snicker. They don't think I can do it. Frankly, I am only half serious myself. But I AM going to do it - mostly as a big "Your Number One" to all of those snickering doubters. No offense to those that might be reading this - I mean that in the most lighthearted way possible. My hope is that you'll enjoy one fat man's journey from the couch of his living room to the crossing of the finish line of his very first Marathon.

I don't know where or when yet (I'll fill you in when I get there), but if anyone has some cool weather, flat terrain options of Marathons to look at - preferably one with a good bus/subway system to get me to the finish line just in case - I am all ears!