In the months leading up to 2015’s Fall marathons, RunWashington will follow several local runners as they prepare for their races. We’ll chart their progress as they train their legs, lungs and minds for the challenges they’ll race on race day. Each week, we’ll catch up with our runners and see how they’re doing. This week, it’s Joe Divel of Rockville, Md., who is taking his second shot at the Marine Corps Marathon. Read the first article about Joe Divel here.
Not a lot of people wake up one day and think, for no reason other than they can’t find anything on T.V. that they’re going to spend hundreds of dollars and sacrifice countless weekend morning lie-ins to train for a race that ends about six miles after the average, reasonable human would cry uncle. There’s usually a reason for a marathon. Sometimes it’s a new athletic challenge, or a way to mark a milestone. A celebration or a commemoration. Many start training with an enthusiasm that quickly wanes, or a fervor that lays them up with burnout or injury.