I had too much going on in November to write my normal long race reports, so here is a report with blurbs about: The Manchester City Marathon (11/2) The San Antonio Rock N Roll Marathon (11/16) The Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon (11/23) The Atlanta Marathon (11/27) The Seattle Marathon 5k (11/29) -> yes, that's what it was called Plus a teaser about the Seattle Marathon (11/30). More on that in a race-specific report later. As always, links to lots of other race reports can be found over there.

Boston for 09 again? I'll see you there. Of course I will be on the sidelines again. Laurie

Thanks for the compilation. I felt like I was accompanying a rock star as he jetted around awing his fans. Only this was a really nice rock star. What you did in Nov is just amazing. The compressed report makes it easy to see that (1) every course is different ( 2) it can be cold many places on many weekends (3) sometimes it's your day and sometimes not so much (4) what a positive attitude you maintained whether you met your goal, came close, or lost time in POP lines. OK, looking forward to Seattle M report. You may be the Maniac-iest Maniac.

You maniacs are awesome, but are still maniacs! I can't imagine having the physical stamina to run more than a marathon per week, all year long. You really must be in amazing shape to do that and not get injured. And it goes without saying that you would need to be retired, unemployed, or have an extremely flexible job to pull off the scheduling! Not to mention a big travel budget! How do you juggle everything?

You maniacs are awesome, but are still maniacs! I can't imagine having the physical stamina to run more than a marathon per week, all year long. You really must be in amazing shape to do that and not get injured. And it goes without saying that you would need to be retired, unemployed, or have an extremely flexible job to pull off the scheduling! Not to mention a big travel budget! How do you juggle everything?

Actually, it doesn't have to require that much long haul travel depending on where you live. The Maniacs were founded in Seattle by a group of folks who kept seeing each other at the same races. See, as it turns out, we probably have 40ish marathons and ultras within a 5 hour drive every year. And if you carpool, it is possible to do it a bit more modestly than it might seem. And possible to do it with a normal job. It *does* however a certain, uh, flexibility of family. Now, in my case, I do have a flexible work schedule... though very unpredictable medical/health schedule. As for all the traveling I do, it's a bit of a party trick. I haven't been paying for as much of it as it may seem. I've burned a whole lot of miles from my previous corporate worklife (it helps to be a Million Mile Flier) and vouchers. But most of that is running out. Aside from this November report, I've been staying a lot closer to home than I used to. As for injuries and health stuff, it happens.