Our family knew he had it in him. He had a perfect athletic training as a child, dark-skinned, lightfoot, long-legged, running after the other kids, chasing them away for no reason. Ped was the bully with a side kick namely his younger cousin George! Boy, did they get into a lot of trouble, using other kids their age as punching bags, then running away as fast as they can, climbing up trees to hide... It's always fun to hear about their escapades, but I'm sure they got some spanking from my brother.
They’re good little nephews just too “playful” or mischievous? If running errands for the uncles and aunties, (and they had plenty - of uncles and aunties and errands too), count as sports training, that too helped him prepare for this.
This time, it is no "bull__it", rather was a serious goal. Ped’s marathon debut, the prestigious 26.2 mi. about 42.19 km or 385 yards (for the metrics in some of you) Chicago Marathon 2008, finishing in 4:08:50 and ranking 7956 out of over 40,000 deserves a gold medal from the family.
Woohoo!!! He had been training for just a year and doing all the local half-runs in NYC but what a record for a novice! Carol's family and friends in Indiana lined the course starting in Grant Park, not to mention Marc's buddies who also cheered on for Pop.
Guys, I heard you had pre and post-run parties, goodbye to runner's grubs for a while, ha Ped? For shlepping them to and from La Guardia Airport, Carol and Ped had a bagful of chestnuts for me from the backyard of the Samalios. Thanks Jun-Jun, for roasting them already, there's nothing like homegrown nuts, easy to peel too.
Our Marathon Man, number 18601. Watch out Boston!
