All of my life, I've wanted to run a marathon. And Sunday was the day. A chilly 34°F, 7:00am start made me question my sanity (yet again!). My good friend Nazario Rodriquez "decided" to join me. (Well, I signed him up and had to sell him very quickly on the idea. He had completed the NY marathon last fall and had vowed not to do another one anytime soon.) A blistering 5 hrs, 17 mins and 26.2 miles later, we were both on our backs enjoying a massage and absorbing the great feeling of accomplishment - and of course the skilled hands of the masseuse. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the run, and in TE '03 apparel, received tons of support on the route.

Running the marathon was more about keeping up my endurance for the upcoming climb, so I wasn't overly concerned about my speed. We'll have many long days on the mountain and it's important to know how quickly I'll be able to recover from these long days. After the run, my quads were a bit sore, much like one would experience after a long descent. But within a day or so, I felt strong again. As my legs rebuild, they'll be stronger, and this will help me in the coming months.

On a funny note, I thought I'd have a day to relax and recuperate after the marathon. But TE '03 never stops. The very next morning, thirteen 50-pound boxes of expedition supplies were dropped on a pallet at the bottom of my stairs. I had to get over the soreness pretty quickly as I had to single-handedly (so to speak) haul each box up the flight of stairs.

So another of my goals has been accomplished. Some may ask what running the marathon has to do with Team Everest. This expedition is all about each person having the freedom to set goals and the opportunity to fulfill these goals, regardless of ability or disability. Thanks to all for your support. Gary Guller For more on this expedition see here