Mile 23 Dillinger

17 October 2007

Dillinger’s Mile 23 Special
One week after Steamtown, I was back on the wagon, running an ill-advised 17 mile jaunt through the trails of Harbison Forest with some buddies. The typically lively banter (most of which I cannot and will not repeat) was interrupted by a question from a bloke soon to embark on his first marathon.

“What does it feel like after mile twenty?”

Before I could muster a pithy response, another runner (a tanned rugby coach) answered with blunt hyperbole, “[after mile twenty] if I had a gun, I’d shoot myself.”

Ah, restraint.

But you know what? For a hypothetical nanosecond he made perfect sense. I’d never actually contemplate self euthanasia, but the unrelenting misery of miles 21-26 can be overwhelming. You must fight the almost irresistible urge to stop… to end it.

While crude, gunpowder projectiles seem as good a metaphor as any.

Just call me Old Yeller.

– Dean

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