Celebrity Marathoners

Today was some speedwork, and I misread my calendar and actually went over what I was supposed to do today.  (I mistakenly doubled the amount of speed miles, and halved the recovery portions.)  Which made me feel a lot better because I was pretty much dying on the treadmill today.  Before realized my mistake, I figured it was due to the fact that I really, really hate running on the treadmill.  It's boring, and there's no motivation.  At any point, I can press a button, stop running, gather my gym bag and go home.  Where's the fun in that?

But I chose treadmill today because I had physical therapy, and whenever I have PT, I sneak into the Equinox gym and work out (they're connected).  Equinox is the nicest gym I've ever been to by far--the towels are soft and they don't reek of chlorine!  But, I can only be a fake member there a short while longer.  It looks like my knee is on the mend, and I won't need the PT much longer.

Anyway, as I was running on my little gerbil wheel today and bored out of my mind, I was thinking of what my time goal should be for the marathon.  And, because in addition to being passionate about running, I also love some good Us-Weekly-style gossip, I thought: "Why not try and beat a celebrity?"

One of the funny things about running is that it's such a diverse, quirky community.  I mean, you'd expect certain people to be runners, like Kenyans.  But there's some 70-year-old ladies out there cranking out marathons too.  Even W. ran a marathon, and had a pretty good time too, I hate to admit.  A quick Google search revealed the following:

Sean Combs aka Diddy - 4:14:54

Remember "Diddy Runs the City"?  He raised 2 mil with his run, which was awesome.  And his time was pretty good.  I was surprised, because I remember watching an MTV special about it, and he didn't seem to be training very hard.

Mario Lopez - 5:41:41

OK, I don't know what it is about this guy, but I just think he sucks.  I mean, he was AC Slater back in the day, and now he's popular all of sudden?  Because of some dancing show?  And because he's in "A Chorus Line" I have to see his smug face plastered all over the city.  And his naked pic in People?  EEW.  Well, Mr. Lopez, I have news for you.  I am going to kick your ass by at least an hour.

Will Ferrell - 3:56:12

This probably surprised me the most.  Will Ferrell, running?  And a really good time too!  I wonder if he had KFC after.

Katie Holmes - 5:29:58

Not the fastest time, but she only trained for two months.  All in all, a pretty half-baked effort.  But this girl could sneeze and every magazine would cover it--which is why we all heard so much about her NYC marathon.

But the celebrity I'm going to try and beat: Oprah.  I know it's probably been done/said a million times before, but I think her time may be within reach: 4:29:20.  She did it with a trainer, a nutritionist/chef, and probably someone to massage her callouses (Steadman?).  I may not have her resources, but I do have youth!  And determination!

We'll see how it goes.  I'll probably finish in 6 hours and be really, really embarrassed.

Total distance covered: 17 miles

Days until race: 93