Too busy to blog

Three days until the marathon, and things have been too crazy to enter new posts. So as I say goodbye, I can share the quote that adorns the May page of my Runner's World calendar: "any day that I'm too busy to run is a day that I'm too busy."

Good luck to all the runners on Saturday, thank you to the hundreds of volunteers helping with this event. And thanks for reading.

Days are counting down

Those of us working to put on the NC Marathon don't exactly appreciate that counter that ticks off time every time you open the Web page, ncmarathon.org. We're less than two weeks from the race, and it feels like we've got too much still to pull together in too little time. Somehow, though, these things always seem to gel in the last bit of time, after the panic.

We are up to close to 850 marathoners and half-marathoners and some 600 in the family 5k. Happily, volunteer registrations are starting to roll in, too -- it takes a lot of people to help runners comfortably start, finish, and celebrate an event like this.

Bid to run with Joan!

It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to run with a former Olympic marathon gold medalist, Boston Marathon record-setter, and thirty-year phenom in the sport of distance running. Go to ebay.com and bid on a run and catered lunch with Joan Benoit Samuelson, our featured guest for the NC Marathon:

"Run and lunch with Joan Benoit Samuelson for charity" is the item name. We're taking the top 10 bids, beginning at the recession-bargain rate of $35. 

We'll meet at noon on Friday, May 1, at the Piedmont Environmental Center, High Point, for an easy jog and then a catered lunch. Stay and tour the gardens with Joan, weather permitting.

All proceeds go to Foster Friends of NC, the nonprofit that is organizing the marathon, half-marathon, and 5k. Foster Friends works to improve the lives of Guilford County children in foster care by filling requests for such things as camp tuition, yearbooks, martial arts classes, and prom dresses.

Great mother's day gift for your favorite running mom. Great incentive gift for your employee who's training for the marathon.

Want to run the course a bit?

We've had a request from a registered runner who wants a way to run part of the NC Marathon course in these last few weeks before the race. Anyone else interested? 

For those of you who live just outside High Point -- Greensboro, Kernersville, Winston, etc. -- it'd be a nice way to get a little more familiar with where you're headed on race day.

Write in and let us know of your interest, and whether you could run on a Tuesday or Thursday night, and how far you'd want to run (we're thinking anywhere from 5 to 9 or so miles).

Sneak Preview #1: Waiting For You at the Finish

Sure, Cincinnati has its flying pig. But how many races offer such a cool finishers' medal?! We're celebrating High Point, our host city, and its claim to fame as the furniture capital of the world. 

     This sneak-preview post is especially for my friend Neal, whose newcomer's zeal for running, races, and medals is refreshing. He couldn't stand the wait until May 2. 

     But for my friend Rick, who has been running as long as I have and takes a, well, more weathered approach to all this, be assured that the runner's T-shirt design is a much more serious design, none of this quirky running furniture stuff. We saved that for the volunteers' T-shirts. 

     Which are free, by the way, in exchange for you giving us your Saturday morning to help out along the course and at the finish area. Write if you can help out: lwatts@ncmarathon.org

Save yourself $10 or more

To all fellow procrastinators out there, all you folks who intend to run the NC Marathon or half but haven't actually gotten around to registering: April 2 is the first date that the entry fee jumps up. So jump from here to http://www.ncmarathon.org or http://www.active.com and sign up. You'll save yourself the higher fee and make friends for yourself here at race headquarters, where we'll be able to plan better for food, amenities and other good stuff because we'll have a good idea of numbers.

Then, when you're feeling good about taking care of a task and saving a little money, you can go finish up those tax forms you've been avoiding. The clock keeps ticking.

You going my pace?

This week's poll asks about which goal time you'd like help reaching if we can offer pacers on the NC Marathon course. And if you choose "other," be sure to write in that pace as a comment here.

Your vote matters, you know. Last week's poll about post-race food received the most responses of any poll yet. Go figure: runners and food. The winner was pizza, followed closely by subs, then NC barbecue. We'll see what we can cook up. Pun totally intended.