IN ITALY: La Maratona di Milano

ITALIAN MARATHON #10

Two commonly asked questions of marathoners are  "How many miles is this one?" and "Why do you do it?"

Let's start with the first question.  "How many miles is this one?" indicates lack of knowledge of the event.  This is not a bad thing.  It would be similar to someone asking "How long is a 50K?"

Every marathon must be 26.2 miles or 42km.  That's the distance established by the Greeks and no one has argued with them.

By asking how-many-miles you simply indicate you don't run and that's okay.

The second question, "Why do you do it?"  Now this is meaty.  Everytime I get asked and that is many times, I stop, I ponder, I reasses and oft times the answer changes.

I started running marathons because I needed a daily cardiovascular regime to be at my peak for my main passion at that time,  mountaineering.   Since I was not in a position to climb a mountain everyday to be at my best,  I found I could go out and run my neighborhood to accomplish what I needed and thus my running life started.  That was 1993.

Today's marathon will be my 160th marathon.   I have never run the same marathon twice; 159 different cities, 159 dfferent courses, a marathon in every U.S. State, pretty much every California marathon and now my tenth Italian marathon.

Simetimes I run for the enjoyment of a blindingly beautful course such as California Highway 1,  closed except to runners from Big Sur to Carmel, or crossing the Grand Canal in Venice via a pontoon bridge only for runners.

Somtimes I run because I love to eat expensive dinners and a marathon distance allows me to collect Michelin dining experiences without guilt.

Sometimes I run because there is virtue in doing what is hard.  One of my primary focuses in Life is to do things that require more effort rather than less.

I am endlessly enriched by new sights, by new conversations with other runners,  by the new friends these runners become,  by taking to the road and adapting to the unknown.