> Oh, yeah, all those hours that are so quickly forgotten :-) We were five of us who were challenged in february, giving us four months to prepare. We had varying degrees of experience, ranging from "yeah, running sounds like fun" to "try to get out a couple of times per week", encompassing "go to the gym now and again". There is plenty of help to be found on the Net regarding training programs and such. I think at peak effort (two-four weeks before The Event), we were out every second day, running 10-20 km.
> Except for the one who fell ill a couple of days before, we all completed in less than four hours, which was very satisfying (we won the challenge, he-heh).
>
> I think that if you are able to run 10 km for two or three days in a row without dying (!), I'd say you are reasonably (physically) able to complete the 42.195 km in one go. Not to suggest that it's the same thing, but I think that would be a reasonable criterion.

Wow. Very inspiring. Thanks for the info. I never particularly wanted to be able to run a marathon (mainly because running for even one hour, my maximum in the past, just about kills me with boredom) but it would really be an accomplishment you could look back on. Right now I'm working back up to 10km-capability after being too lazy for too long.

I always wonder what other people think about while they run. I don't like wearing a Walkman because it makes me unaware of what's going on around me, which can be dangerous, but I find my ability to happily listen to my own thoughts usually has about a ten-minute limit. Running seems to take just enough concentration that you can't mentally concentrate on anything else, but not enough to keep it from being earthshatteringly boring, apart from the last few minutes where you're thinking "Yeah! Yay! I'm almost there!" and it starts feeling good.

Brunnen-"unfortunately, it's the only form of exercise I find hard enough that it actually works"G