The marathon sits in the realm of the abstract for the vast majority of people. That's not to be demeaning, but less than 1% of the world's population have run a marathon, and less than 0.5% have run two.
But because the race has become more popular, and because it's talked about a lot when it comes to some of the more excessive athletic feats, it has perhaps lost its shine a little. But there is no getting around the fact that if you complete a marathon, you are uncommon by nature.
There are a lot of factors that go into the famous 'less than 1% fact', but the biggest reason of all is that most people simply are not able to do it. It is a mightily difficult task, and make no mistake, it is as hard for a runner who takes five hours to complete it as a runner who completes it in two hours and 30 minutes. It can be difficult because you are squeezing every drop out of your body to get a certain time, or it can be difficult because you are running a slower race and spending so much more time on your feet.
There is no way around how difficult it is, and because the difficulty of it is abstract to most people - after all, 42.2 is just a number - there are many who throw out the marathon as a goal, not knowing whether they can complete it.
But for those serious about completing the race, the rubber must eventually hit the road. At some point, the kilometres are going to have to be run, both in training and on the day, and for first-timers, the race itself is often the first time they find out about what it's like to run that kind of distance.
Training doesn't get you to 42.2miles in one go - you are likely getting to around 34km at the most - and believe me, the first time around, the additional eight kilometres is noticeable, especially with somewhere between KM30 and KM40 being the most difficult for most runners, even some of the best.
This is not to scare anyone out of doing a marathon, and I will follow this up with an article on just how achievable it is, even for the most amateur runners, at least with structured training. But while it may end up being one of the most difficult physical challenges of your life, it should also be enjoyable.
So, if the marathon is a goal of yours, or even if you have just thrown it out as an ambitious project you don't yet understand, whether you use our services or not, look after yourself and do not get caught by surprise or find yourself unprepared for the distance you are going to have to run.
Be prepared to become uncommon.
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