As I'm scanning our local paper this morning I recognized someone's hot pink shirt.  

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/171509/

Thirty-four members of the Marathon Maniacs running club from around the country are coming to Duluth to run Grandma’s Marathon on Saturday.

One of them is a Maniac’s Maniac.

He’s 43-year-old Robert Lopez of downtown Seattle, a former Microsoft employee who now works for himself as a corporate trainer focused on leadership development.

Lopez has run 247 marathons in all 50 states.

He’s done it in less than nine years.

He ran 65 marathons in 2007 and 41 in 2008.

Why?

“I like to travel and visit strange places,” Lopez said. “Marathoning, especially entering the obscure ones and the really hard trail races, gives me a reason to pick some strange destinations. I never would have visited Bismarck, N.D., or Goody, Ky., or Hurley, Wis., otherwise, and they were very cool.”

One of the coolest things about Lopez’s running is that he draws attention to the fight against breast cancer. He wears a shirt colored pink, the international color of breast cancer awareness. His ex-wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. He stopped working to take care of her.

“Caregivers and family members aren’t given enough credit,” Lopez said. “Dealing with doctors, labs, cleaning up chemo puke and biggest of all — dealing with insurance companies — is a full-time gig.”

Lopez started wearing pink in his marathons in 2007, and that was the year he tried to run as many as he could — often two a weekend — for the total of 65.

“I met many women and a few men who are breast cancer warriors-survivors and their family members and care providers,” he said. “It is hard on everybody. My pink transitioned from being about the ‘ex’ to being about all of the people that I’ve met.”

Lopez goes by the nicknames “McLovin,” after a character in a raunchy movie, he said, and “Stevie Ray” a sarcastic commentary of his guitar skills compared to the late Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Lopez said he wasn’t much of an athlete in his schoolboy days. He said he was usually the last one picked for teams. But he found some athletic ability when he started entering triathlons and then marathons. Despite his heavy volume of marathons, Lopez still records better than average times. His personal marathon best is 3 hours, 27 minutes. He has run under 4 hours in marathons in 41 states. Two weeks ago, he won a 50-kilometer trail race in Tacoma, Wash.

This Maniac was a better student than athlete. He has a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Texas Tech, a master’s in computer science from Texas A&M, and a master’s in adult education and training from Seattle University.

He’s looking forward to Grandma’s. “I know it has a long history and everybody loves (course record holder) Dick Beardsley, a fellow Maniac,’’ he said. “It’s a great point-to-point course with awesome views. I’ve heard nothing but great things about it.”

Huh.  I didn't even know there was a grandmas group!

He made me sound nice.  In the real world, I'm not.  Watch out for snakes.

Yes, well... er... that was not among the pics I sent him.

That there is a brightroom shot.

(he says quietly)