During one of our water breaks on our long Sunday runs, Tiffany asked me what time I put down on the application for the Disney Marathon.
“Well, if I run at my slowest pace of 11 minute miles, that’s 55 minutes to run 5 miles. Given that pace, I figure I should finish it in about 5 hours, right?”
“Good! That’s what I thought, too!” Tiffany replied. “My goal is to beat Katie Holmes’s time: 5:29:58.”
“Oh we could so beat her!” We’ll kick Katie Holmes’s a$$!”
Then, this past week, Tiffany asked me if I knew that Palin ran a marathon.
“Palin ran a marathon?”
“Yeah, it was in Runner World. Her time was 3:59:36.”
“How old was she? Wow. The other Denise was right. She is a super woman. She is a machine, but I still ain’t voting for her.”
I began to visualize Palin running a marathon along the icy polar caps of Alaska while holding a rifle and shooting baby seals. How does a mother of five and a governor find time to train for a marathon? How can she be that fast? She simply can not be human.
My training trance was abruptly interrupted when Lori commented on how my pace suddenly picked up a bit.
“Well, I thought we only had to be Katie Holmes. Now, I have to beat Palin’s time!”
Indeed, Palin did run a marathon at the fabulous age of 41. She ranked 15th place in her division and 63rd out of 203 runners.
If I can’t beat her time in January or February, then it’s something for me to strive when I hit the big 4-0!
Other Politicians Who Have Run Marathons
- George W. Bush, Houston Marathon 1993 (3:44:52)
- Michael Dukakis, Governor of Massachusetts, Boston Marathon 1951 (3:31:00)
- John Edwards, Marine Corps Marathon 1983 (3:30:18)
- Bill Frist, Marine Corps Marathon 1997 (4:54:36)
- Al Gore, Marine Corps Marathon 1997 (4:58:25)
- Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas, Little Rock Marathon 2005 (4:39:04)
- Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa, Little Rock Marathon 2005 (5:28:39)
- Clarence Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Marine Corps Marathon (3:11:xx) 1979
Celebrities Times I have to Beat
- Katie Holmes, New York City Marathon 2007 (5:29:58)
- Oprah Winfrey, Marine Corps Marathon 1994 (4:29:20)
- Will Ferrell, Boston Marathon 2003 (3:56:12) -As if I could run that fast! LOL
- David Lee Roth, New York City Marathon 1987 (6:04:43) - I could so kick his rocking a$$!
- Mario López, Saved by the Bell, Boston Marathon 2002 (5:41:41)
