The 2005 New York City Marathon

Being the 5th boy in the family, I’ve always tried out the sports my older brothers ventured into.  We’re not a very athletic family and even though we could have formed our own starting 5 , noone plays or even watches basketball.  Our eldest, Joel, is perhaps the jock of the family.  He swims, climbs mountains and plays a mean game of table tennis (having trained with the Philippine team and even represented the country in some meets).  R1 lifted weights in high school and after a long hiatus (and 200 or so pounds later), returned to body building with a vengeance.  R2 played soccer in high school and used to jog on regular basis.  Three kids later, he’s now involved in baseball — little league — as a manager.  Myself, I dabbled in Taekwondo in High School and joined the Track team in Ateneo grade school where my best finish was 3rd place in a 4×100 relay race. Now, I jog regularly and occasionaly delude myself into thinking I can play golf.

I don’t recall M. ever playing any sports.  Well, since the tech bubble blew up and he started lining his kitchen walls with his stock options, he’s been very active.  A true Ilokano if I ever knew one, I bet he started exercising only to save on health insurance premiums.  So, he’s been running and participating in 5K/10K runs in the San Francisco Bay Area.  On top of that, he took up cycling — riding to the peak of Mt. Tam regularly and even going into wine country.  He told me he’s even bonked — a cycling term referring to those stupid enough to go at it till they lose all energy. (The English have their own views on bonking, though.) 

What’s all of this got to do with the 2005 NYC Marathon?

First, it’s going on right now.  Second, M.’s running in it for the first time.  I’m not sure if he’s ever run the full marathon before but the NYC marathon is a good one to run.  It is after all one of the most famous marathons on the globe.  He should have taken off by now and he tells me he’s targeting a finish in about 4 hours (give or take).  Not a bad thing to do on your 40th year on the blue planet. 

Good luck, M. Do us proud.  But for Pete’s sake, don’t break a leg.

UPDATE: He finished the marathon 4:28:25 averaging 10:14 per mile.