The Destination - Part One

With 2 weeks until race day, I thought I'd look into the destination cities a little. I'll discuss the specifics of the race, including the course, closer to race day, but in brief, it actually covers three separate cities. The race begins in Phoenix proper, then passes through the suburb of Scottsdale and finishes in Tempe near Sun Devil Stadium, home of the Arizona State University Wildcats. Jill and I are staying in another suburb, Chandler, a little south of Tempe.

So let's start with Phoenix itself. I'll do Scottsdale, Tempe and Chandler in a subsequent post.

• It is the 5th largest city in the US, with a population of around 1.5 million. The Phoenix Metropolitan area has a population of around 4.6 million.
• Phoenix enjoys an average of 300 sunny days per year.
• Average annual high temperature is 85 degrees.
• January's average high is 67 degrees.
• Since 1896 it has only snowed 7 times in Phoenix.
• Famous Phoenicians include Dan Quayle, John McCain, Steven Spielberg, Alice Cooper, Barry Bonds, Phil Mickelson and Mike Tyson.
• Before it officially became Phoenix, the town was called Pumpkinville due to the large pumpkins that grew in fields by canals.
• Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport is the 18th busiest in the world.
• The Phoenix area is home to over 200 golf courses.

Though I once caught a connecting flight in Phoenix, other than that, this will be my first trip to Arizona. Hopefully I won't slip on any left over pumpkins.

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.

The Basic Plot

So here, as promised, is the basic premise..

The players:
Halkzibit: Your protagonist. Your hero. The man with the plan. And no, to the doubters, it isn't a mid-life crisis propelling me towards wanting to endure four plus hours of pain for a t-shirt and a banana, it's simply the final realization of a lifelong ambition. From my youth running cross-country for my high school and watching people dressed as waiters, gorillas and Margaret Thatchers running by the Thames and Westminster Abbey in the early years of the London Marathon, it's just something that "looked like fun". Charmingly enthusiastic, or woefully naive?

Jillzibit: Your protagonist's girlfriend. The love interest. The running partner. All being well, when I do my first marathon, she'll do her first half, and there'll be a ride into the sunset (because neither of us will be able to walk)

Meadow: My dog. A pointer mix, and easily the fastest of the major players, her average mile pace is matched only by her IQ... 6.

Olive: Jillzibit's shih-tzu. Smarter and feistier than her bigger pal, but without the endless desire to chase her own tail and run into glass doors. More likely to go scuba diving than run two miles without collapsing in exhaustion.

The path:
You will join me while I train, complain and go insane over the next 3 or so months.

The suspense:
This isn't the first time I've trained for a marathon, but injuries stopped me the first time. Will I make it this time?

The payoff:

The Rock n' Roll marathon in Phoenix, AZ January 18, 2009.

Let's get ready to run-ble. (Yeah, they're not all gems).