I did something today that I’ve never done before. I joined my entire family, along with a bunch of other folks to cheer on a friend who was running in her first Marathon. We managed to get more than 13 people together to stand, a mile apart, along the last half of the course to give her encouragement.

The marathon was run in Wichita, the Prairie Fire, and also had a half marathon run at the same time. It was interesting to me from a number of different perspectives. First off, the amount of planning that my wife, Ann, and daughter Maddie went into to surprise our friend was enormous. They went so far as to create a “cover” so that she wouldn’t know that her entire family was coming down to cheer her on. As far as she knew, they would all be sleeping soundly in their beds.

Prior to the race, signs were created, maps were duplicated, driving arrangements were made (the support team only took three cars, which was a record of restraint for us, since sometimes we show up at the high school with as many cars as we have drivers…all for the same event!), a computer connection was created with her father so he could encourage her in the last mile, and all sorts of other preparations were made. It was a fairly large undertaking, but it was done quickly, efficiently, and the results were spectacular.

The second thing that I noticed was that the range of running styles, body shapes, and other demographics factors isn’t that much different between marathon runners and half-marathoners. Remember, I’ve participated in three half marathons. I ran one, limped one, and walked one. But as I stood there today, cheering on total strangers, it hit me that all sorts of people were running for all sorts of different reasons. And there were lots and lots of runners in both groups who looked an awful lot like me. Sure, I identified with the half-marathoners better…you know, “been there, done that x 3”. But the marathoners weren’t that much different, as a group. Sure, they tended to be a little bit thinner, although there were plenty of full-figured folks. They tended to be a bit younger, although there were plenty of older folks. And they tended to be running a bit faster, although there were quite a few plodding along, and a decent number walking.

I had the opportunity to see people from the halfway point of both races, and at several other points along their routes. Since the half marathon route ran inside the full route, splitting off inside, joining, then splitting and joining again it was fascinating to see the longer distance folks along with the shorter distance folks…all mixed together. I don’t know if they do that at other events, but it was really cool to me to see that.

I also had the opportunity to go out on part of the marathon where there weren’t any half-marathon runners. I got to talk to a bunch of spectators, and I cheered and encouraged every runner that went by. After a while you get good at seeing who has their headphones in. I usually increased my volume so they would hear my cheering. At the 21.5 mile point on the half I was the only person standing there, and I actually had short conversations with a couple of runners. I even commented on the quality of the music that one of the runners was playing, headphones hanging around his neck, not even in his ears. Ironically, I saw him again at the 25 mile mark and he told me his iPod battery had died. I told him it was pretty impressive to me that he’d outrun his iPod. Honestly, how many of us have done that?

The other thing that I saw was not only a look of determination on lots and lots of faces, but the look of satisfaction that many folks had. As they got near the end (25 miles for the full marathoners and 12 miles for the half-marathoners where they had rejoined the route) there were lots of smiles. The grim determination of earlier in the race was replaced by looks of accomplishment. That was something really cool to see.

Most importantly, it created in me a desire to add a full marathon to my bucket list. I’m not sure I can be ready for next year’s Prairie Fire, but it sure is something I’m going to consider. In the past I would’ve called myself crazy, but honestly as I watched so many folks, normal folks who have hectic lives just like me, running by, I realized that I’m out of excuses. At least I’m out of real excuses. I’m sure I can come up with a wheelbarrow full of excuses if you give me enough time…but they’re all really invalid.

So I’m putting it out there. I’ve added “running a marathon within the next 24 months” onto my bucket list. I’m counting today as training day #1, since I did manage to log 12.8 miles walking to the various cheering spots on the route. I know this because I used MapMyRun to track how far I had walked. Heck, for just 0.3 more miles of walking I could say I’d accomplished my fourth half marathon. The funny thing is, I don’t feel like I walked that far. So I figure, if I can walk that far in a few hours, with training I can run twice that far in the same amount of time…maybe a little longer.

So, congratulation to any of you folks who’ve completed a 5k, 10k, Half, or Marathon. If you’ve run further I’m not sure I want to talk to you. I’m not tempted and I don’t want to be. But if you’re a marathoner I’d love to hear about your experience. And if you’ve never run anything before, think about it. Maybe running isn’t your thing, but walking could be.

So, get started already!