Back to Back Marathons, a Great Goal!

I wanted to go with the boys last year to do a "back to back" Marathon weekend ,but it wouldn't fit my already borderline insane schedule. This year I had thought of it again and was all ready to sign up for Illinois, and Cincinnati, when the plan for the National Marathon in Washington DC and the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach became the back to back set to do. So, it wasn't long and Keith,Kevin,Theo, Catherine, and myself were on the road to do it. Tracy was trying to make the trip with us but had to wait until the last week to bow out.Roger and Alan were going to do Washington and Brendan was doing the Shamrock as "only" single marathons! We piled into 2 vehicles Thursday night and made it to Bradford PA. Did you know the Zippo Lighter Museum is there? Theo does. We had to drive to the Expo first as it was only a one day affair and then the Hotel. The Washington DC race course was good, not fast and flat good, but lots of hills and tough inclines, lots of huge buildings, sights, and the cherry blossoms were in bloom. After the race we packed into Kevin's van, and Roger left with Alan for home in his car, part 1 of the double was done. Everyone was feeling good and there was no time to complain as we had to drive to Virginia Beach 4 hrs away, check in to the next Hotel in Norfolk, rest, eat, and get ready to run another marathon.Thanks to Marie and Sophie for picking up our kits for us, saved us the tight schedule we were facing to make the expo before it closed. The weather was beautiful for the race and after all it was Virginia Beach.I ran with Catherine for the first 10k or so before we separated on this flat course and seeing Marie and Sophine at the halfway point was inspirational because the second half was open and getting hot in the sun. There was little to no air movement until we looped back towards the finish at mile 22 and the cool Atlantic ocean breeze lifted my spirits and I knew it was almost over. As I passed mile 23 a spectator said "only 44 blocks to go" yeah thanks for that, but the blocks are quite small at the beach area and numbered as street names. As I turned onto the boardwalk I could see the finish line less than 800 meters away and I was aiming straight to it and nothing was stopping me. Marie was taking pictures and I saw her first standing near the already finished Theo, Kevin, Keith, and Brendan. Then just like that it was all over, back to back marathons. Awesome feeling! So what did I get from this? Well, 3 shirts, 2 medals, 1 hat, free beer at the finish line, and a great experience with great friends. I will do this again, its worth the time and training. It may not be for everyone, but dont ever think its impossible or crazy to do back to back marathons because you can do it. The best way is definatley with someone you train with or a group of friends who will be there for support. By the way, that makes 4 Marathons for me so far this year , and it's only March!