This is my cousin Arnie. He enjoys running. I think pretty much anyone who pays money to run 26 miles has to more than enjoy running.
This weekend he invited me to experience the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth with him.

Perhaps your first marathon is a goal. I saw many people with t-shirts proclaiming that they are just "trying to finish". I imagine after one you might contemplate doing another, just to see if you can do it again. After ten it probably just becomes a passion. For the man who was running in his 294th marathon it's probably something more.

Arnie is attempting to run a marathon in each of the 50 states. He's been to Vermont, Louisanna, Illinois, Wyoming, New Jersey...and probably more states I don't even remember and now he's be to Duluth.

Watching a marathon is interesting. And I guess if you aren't running the next best thing is to spend a sunny morning with a cool beverage and a chair on the side of the road and cheering these people on.

I started off Saturday a.m. at mile marker 9 and found this lovely spot right by a small stream/waterfall. There was Jeff and his wife from Minnetonka who were cheering on their son and daughter-in-law. Becky and her small son Jake who had a poster cheering on Jake's dad.

And there also was Al Franken who set up his stop right next to us. It was funny how the runners would amble by us and a few who got really excited to see Al and high five him.

I don't get that excited by Al. He's a nice guy. A bit shorter than I imagined him in pictures. I think his motivation for being there was genuine. It was a prime opportunity for political "being out among the people".
Here's Arnie in the green shirt approaching Al.

It was a lovely Saturday. And Arnie did finish the race.

I did confirm that I am way out of shape (parking the car and walking to the various viewing areas was more exercise than I've had in a while) and while it didn't motivate me to start running marathons, I did appreciate the wide variety of people who accept the challenge. There were young and old and among them a common goal...to finish running 26 miles without hurting themself or dying. (Okay I'm sure they have other goals like running a 5 minute mile split but I can't help but think not dying would be my goal if I ever chose to participate in something like this.)

I remember in high school having to run the "mustang mile" it was a course that ran through the neighborhood around our high school and in order to pass gym class you needed to run it in under 14 minutes. Wasn't my favorite sport.

But hats off to Arnie. I know Duluth was a bit of a letdown insofar as being an eclectic "small town" but hopefully your adventure to Minnesota was worth the 1,000 miles plus in the rental car.