Celebrities I have Already beaten

After googling "celebrity marathon times", I've learned that I've already beaten quite a few. I'm using my marine corp 2003 marathon time of 4:09:07 as a comparison. Please note that completing a marathon is a major accomplishment, no matter how long it takes to complete. That being said, I beat all of the following people!

1) Oprah - 4:29:20 - (Marine Corp Marathon 1994) OK, so i'm not too proud that I only beat her by 13 seconds in my first marathon but I knew her time and I kept saying "Can't get beat by Oprah. CAN'T get beat by Oprah"! Look at the picture. She's freakin power walking and I only beat her by 13 seconds.

2) Mario Lopez - 5:41:41 - (Boston Marathon 2002) - I feel much better about myself right now. Mario is in shape and I kicked his ass in all three marathons. He must have been practicing his Dancing with the Stars moves as he was running. "Run 2 - 3, Step 2 -3, Twirl 2 -3". Whatever the below move is, it definitely hurt his marathon time.











3) Katie Holmes - 5:29:58 - (NYC Marathon 2007) - Thank God I beat her! Or should I say, Thank Scientology I beat her. But, once again, what's with celebrities running marathons in pants? Ryan Reynolds, Oprah, Katie Holmes..notice a trend?










4) P-Diddy AKA Puff Daddy AKA Sean Combs - 4:14:54 - (NYC Marathon 2003) - Every breath you take..gasp, gasp, gasp...Sorry puffy. Or should I say, huffy puffy. Although, what can you expect with all of that partying and Ciroc Vodka.











5) David Lee Roth - 6:04:43 - (NYC Marathon 1987) - Seriously! Over 6 hours. I think it must have been the tight spandex pants holding him back!







6) Al Gore - 4:58:25 - (Marine Corp Marathon 1997)

Al Gore "To Do List":
"Invent the Internet", Save the planet, run slower than Tim Reid.











7) Ali Landry - 5:41:41 - (Boston Marathon 2002) - For once, I'm speechless...

Website

The website www.beatingryanreynolds.com will be set up over the next couple of weeks. That's where I'll be able to tell this story and also update everyone on my running and keep track of all of the pledges that I get. Basically, the way that the pledge will work is that when someone makes a pledge, it will be just for me running in the marathon. If I then beat Ryan's time, then I am asking that they double their pledge. I think it's motivational for me to train right and get in the best shape of my life for this cause. My times for my marathons all related to how much I weighed:

Pittsburgh in 2002 4:29:07 I weighed 235 pounds
Marine Corp in 2003 4:09:07 I weighed 203 pounds
New York in 2004 4:18:42 I weighed 217 pounds

So, I believe that I need to drop to about 190 pounds for the marathon on November 1st. Right now I am about 210...Got some work to do.

Tomorrow begins my morning workouts. Wake up at 5:30 and run 5 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Basically building my mileage now to get ready for the 18 week training program.

Wish me luck!

Lucky Man

I just read Michael J Fox's book, Lucky Man. Incredibly inspirational book. I did not know that he had gone through all of that so young in life. I am 38 years old and am in relatively good health. The book really shows you once again that you have to look at everyday in your life as a blessing. I read it on the flight over to Barcelona. It was then that I decided to run for the Michael J. Fox foundation for parkinson's research. This is the same cause that Ryan Reynolds ran for. He raised $80,000. Not sure that I can hit that number but I'll see what I can do. Once the website is set up, I'll meet with the Fox people and let them know what I am up to.

I ran four times in Europe. 5 miles in Amsterdam, 5 miles in Milan, 6.5 miles in Verona and 5 miles in Florence. Very motivating to run in new cities...especially as amazing as they are.