Marathon-column #1 – To do: Run a marathon

Howdy. Allow me to do a brief introduction. I have this so-called internet nickname, Zanoan. So, er, yeah, I'm Zanoan, or whatever. And like many of you, I've had (or still have) a relation to this game called World of Warcraft. Besides being tagged as a Nihilum member, where I'm most commonly mistaken for a retarded alt, or a twink in the never-ending process of coming near the level of an actual raiding member – I suppose I'm just a tiny bit involved in the Nihilum website. But otherwhise, I'm just a random guy who, from time to time gets diarrhea, is highly dependant on oxygen, pays his monthly fee to log into this peculiar universe of World of Warcraft, and so on. Also, I like pizzas.

So why this column and what's it gonna be rambling about? The pretty short answer is the idea of running this thing called a marathon. Wikipedia, the ever-all-knowing, states that the foundation for this crazy thing has a backstory of this Greek soldier, Pheidippides, who suddenly thought it was a pretty bright idea to run from the city of Marathon to the city of Athens and tell the citizens that the mighty evil Persians (I heard they ate brains like the modern Slovenians) had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. This exciting epic tale tells us that he ran all the way – the entire distance – without stopping, and afterwards decided to draw the ticket and die. Poor soul.

Intriguing. And so far, so good. So how is this of any importance at all? Mayhap simply nothing at all for you. But I suppose we can agree on some parametres – our Average Joe-ness. Supposedly, the question at hand really is: Can your everyday Regular John, who has played his share of World of Warcraft, run an official marathon – with everything that comes with it, from training, to buying equipment, not drinking, stretching out and still stand at the finish line after 42,195 kilometres; and even so considering all this, maybe even in  decent time? (Talking around 4 hours.) Some would probably say “Of course. NP. Been there, done that.”, but if I'm not entirely mistaken, there's a majority – one that I belong to – who would probably think that this sounds pretty god damn insane. So why try this in the first place, I ask you, and myself.

Well, while I sit here in front of my computer, to the very left of me, right there on the wall, hangs a piece of paper. This particular piece of paper is, as many other pieces of paper, produced from wood. Industrialized. Shaped. Produced. Massively. Common knowledge. Alright. Moving on.
However, what seperates this one, from so many other pieces of paper, is the content on it, although mostly relevant to its owner – in this case, yours truly.

So what's so interesting about the content on this piece of paper? Relative, the answer is, however, allow me to share it with you anyway. The paper holds a list. A certain “to do-list”. In fact, it is my very own to-do-before-turning-30 list. The list is made up based on several points. Some are crossed out, as they have been done already, while some are still due. Among some of the points are examples such as:

• Write a book
• Parachuting
• Bungee jumping (done)
• Score a black girl
• Get a diver's license
• Run a marathon

And many other lame things like running around naked in particular areas, and some other jack-ass inspired situations. Will leave those alone for now.

Leaving the rest for another day, the last point on the list seems obvious. Yeah, I guess, to break it down, I intend to try and run a marathon. So ladies and gentlemen and readers of the Nihilum website, Zanoan will be inviting you to a series of columns in the upcoming week and the days after Sunday 18th May. I'll be sharing my experiences and thoughts about this whole idea. Ups and downs. Pros and cons. Losses and gains. Most of all, I'd love to hear from people about any kind of experiences they have regarding this, not necessarily a marathon itself, but just regular running and what comes with it.

Finally, I will be attending Glitnir Copenhagen Marathon at Sunday 18th May 2008.

Godspeed, please.