Celebrity Marathon

During a race, runners do a lot of different things to keep up their motivation. Making up a mantra ("My legs are strong, my legs are strong"), visualizing the next water point, even signing your favorite Christmas carol in your head, are all examples of taking your mind off the pain that ensues during a long race.

I've tried all of the above to keep my brain on the positive side, but I've found that what works best for me is a good conversation. When Rachel and I run together I really enjoy our talks. Sometimes I ask way too many questions and I see Rachel gasping for her breath. On the plus side, this offers me leverage to get on my soap box for 20 or 30 minutes (this also can annoy her). But more often than not, we talk during our walk breaks and this is just fine by me.

The inspiration for this post actually came last weekend when Josh and I were running in the Smokies. He told me an astonshing fact: "I heard that Will Ferrell ran the Boston Marathon and did really well". Me: "Seroiusly?" I thought this week about what other famous celebrities have completed a marathon. Below is an abbreviated list of celebrities. Enjoy.

Lance Armstrong - NYC 2006 (2:46:42)

Dana Carvey - Ocean to Bay 1972 (3:04:21)

Scott Bakula - Rock 'n' Roll 2004 (4:08:34)

George W. Bush - Houston 1993 (3:44:52)

Sean Combs - NYC 2004 (4:14:54)

Will Ferrell - Boston 2003 (3:56:12)

Al Gore - Marine Corps 1997 (4:58:57)

Katie Holmes - NYC 2007 (5:29:58)

Justin Leonard (golfer) - Dallas 2001 (3:54:40)

Ed Norton - NYC 2009 (3:48:01)

Oprah Winfrey - Marie Corps 1994 (4:29:20)

Chad Sievers - Knoxville 2010 (To be determined)


I had to put me in with this group (and you know you're jealous of the Flame shirt). I don't have a time goal in mind, but I think I can beat Katie Holmes. I think a realistic goal is somewhere in the Scott Bakula range. Lance and Dana are way out of my league.

Little River Trail

Horace Kephart first came to the Great Smoky Mountains over a hundred years ago. The land, the nature, and its people inspired him to write 'Our Southern Highlanders' (it's in its twelfth printing). I thought about old Horace as I was running along the Little River Trial near Elkmont on Saturday morning. I thought about how all the things that have changed and all the things that would change in these mountains since Horace first arrived. It is my hope that the beauty that these mountains, valleys, and streams hold will remain constant.


Since I first got this crazy idea to run 26.2 miles, I've always wanted to do a long run in the Smokies. On Saturday, my good friend Josh and I loaded up in his truck and headed into mountains where we would run nearly eight miles along the Little River on the abandoned railroad bed out of Elkmont.

There are several ways to get to Elkmont. We went through Townsend (on the western half of the park) and followed the Little River Road. Normally, the Little River acts more as a stream than a river. However with the amount of rain that has fallen in the past couple of days the, the Little River resembled something you would see if you were in Yosemite. It was a raging whitewater inferno. The scenery was second to none the entire way to Elkmont.

I forgot to mention the snow. The banks of the river and virtually every tree was dusted with a fresh sprinkling of snow. This made the run that much more enjoyable. The run went fine other than a pair of really wet feet, but that was expected. I couldn't imagine doing anything else on a Saturday, than enjoying the mountains. And I would imagine Horace would feel much the same.