The 10th Annual Country Music Marathon.

It was a Monday morning when we showed up to work and got the bad news. The Toronto Marathon was pushing it too close to our deployment date and our request to travel such a distance right before we left had been denied. Myself and two other Staff Sergeants were going to run a marathon in order to raise money for our Family Readiness Group (FRG), so that we could have a decent going away party before we deploy to Iraq later this year. Toronto was originally chosen because it was the one marathon that seemed to be at the best time for all three of us and it was a appealing destination. Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed to find out that it was no longer an option.

The minute that we found out the bad news we immediately went back to the office to look at the list of marathons again.

After scrubing the list for a few minutes, we found that there wasn't another one that could fit into our busy schedule and allow us enough time to get the word out so that we could get sponsors. That's when our motive changed from going on an adventure as an attempt to raise money, to simply run a marathon. The victim, he 10th Annual Country Music Marathon, six days later.

The following morning, one of the guys came into work and said that he wouldn't be able to run the marathon because his eight months, two weeks pregnant wife wasn't feeling so calm about the idea, and only a few days before the birth at that. Well immediately after that, my other buddy put in that he wasn't sure if he were going to be able to attend either. Me on the other hand, I have a hard time changing my mind after I get something into it.

I spent the previous day and entire night daydreaming about the fun that I had ahead of me in the coming week. The planning, the outfit and the Nashville adventure, oh yes, I was going. I rolled up to the computer and booked my hotel right then and there, making sure that I was locked in. The only thing that I had to do at this point was make it to Nashville, some six hours away, in time to sign up for the race.

Friday morning arrived and I was so excited that I woke up at 2:30 a.m., 30 minutes before my normal wake up time. I showed up to work only to find out that my First Sergeant had a rough physical training schedule planned for us that morning. So for the first hour at work I participated in explosive lunges, sprints, mule kicks and anything else that you could think of that would destroy your calves.

He bid me a good race before I took off towards Nashville. Fast forward six hours and I was standing in line with thousands of other participants waiting to sign up and get our numbers for the race, 20 minutes before the counter closed, I was registered. Later that night after signing into my hotel room I went to get something to eat and that's when it hit me, I DIDN'T REMEMBER UNPACKING MY RUNNING SHOES AT THE HOTEL! That's when my fun had started.

9:05 p.m and I knew that I was too late to attempt to buy any running shoes due to stores closing at 9:00. I looked down and frowned at the flip-flops that were decorating my feet and said to myself that I had come too far to give up now, these were to be my treads.

The following morning I woke early again, and started getting ready.

I had picked out a hula outfit earlier that week to run in, I thought that running a marathon in less than a weeks notice wasn't crazy enough, only now the flip-flops put the icing on the cake. I grabbed my things, double checked this time for EVERYTHING and hit the road.

I arrived extremely early at the stadium so that I could catch the shuttle before the line got too long and that is when the attention kicked in. Now, I knew that I was going to get a few looks because of the get-up and all, but I didn't think that I would have gotten as much as I did. I'm not really a shy guy, but too much attention tends to wear on you after a while. A few chuckles here and there would be really common to a guy in a skirt, straw hat and a flowered bra, but when people looked at my feet and seen the flip-flops with my timing device strapped to them I got the same response everytime; "Are you running in those?" The questions started coming one after another, "Have you trained in those?" "Are you going to run the MARATHON in those?" "Aren't those going to hurt your feet?" "Are you crazy?" And the one that was the most common, "Did you lose a bet?" No, I didn't train in these, I didn't train at all.

I am going to give it a shot. I sure hope not. That's a possibility. And no, I just wanted to do something different. But I'll tell you one thing, it was pretty awesome always having someone to talk to considering that I were doing this all by myself.

The race began around 7:00 a.m and I was feeling good. The weather was great and my music was motivating, I think Billy Idol started me off at the begining. Now when it started I was afraid that my legs were going to tire out really fast because when you wear flip-flops you normally have to curl your toes just a little in order to keep them on your feet, that wasn't the case. I got into a steady pace that would allow me to relax my toes so that I wouldn't have to do that. They kept me from starting off too fast and kept me from staying too slow.

I actually felt pretty good, for the most part. I really enjoyed myself for the first half of the race. We were zipping in and out of neighborhoods with many supporters along the way and that kept it motivating. I even seen some guy sitting in his yard in a comfy chair, wearing a smoking coat and sipping wine that was sitting on a small table next to him, I remember pointing at him and saying, now that's how you do it.

Halfway through the route was when I started slipping from my pace (mile 13 to be exact). I felt my energy drop due to lack of food in my belly. I wasn't in too much pain at this point but I stopped and walked for my first time so that my body could absorb some of the power gel and water that I was putting into me. From this point on I walked some and ran some the rest of the route, once you get out of your grove it's hard to get back into it because your mucles start to relax.

So I just cruised the rest of the way, enjoying the beautiful city, talking with other runners and jamming to my music. The route was very scenic the entire way. We ran along side a river, through the downtown, around a park with a pond and many more attractive areas. Five hours and 28 minutes later, the flip-flop guy was welcomed across the finishline.

I am still a little sore two days later but the satisfaction of accomplishing such a difficult challange is very overwhelming. My feet didn't get damaged any more than they would have with me being in shoes, afterall, I didn't train so they were going to be hurting some. This was my third marathon, my second one that was done through a new city with my camera in my hand and I haven't found a better way to tour a new place.

 This is my prefered method and I will do it as long as my body allows. :)