26.2 miles

If anyone out there was wondering if the Chicago Marathon turned out to be the end of Brian Maxwell Kessler, I can assure you that he made it through alive and kicking. And for anyone wondering what its like to run a marathon, the organizers had cameramen filming the race. You can click below to see their official video.




Now that you know what a marathon looks like in general, I'll give you some highlights from my marathon:

5:30 AM Wake up and get dressed to head down to the marathon start.

6:30 AM Win best dressed warmup outfit.


Yeah, you wish you could pull off a garbage bag and khakis.

8:00 AM Start the Chicago Marathon with 40,000 other people.


I'm the one in an orange hat, right next to Waldo.

8:01 AM Running, running, running, see a sign that says "You can still catch the Kenyans", I don't believe it, running, running, hearing a band play "Eye of the Tiger" gets me pumped up, running, running, hearing the organ player at Wrigley playing a funeral dirge gets me pumped down, running, running, seeing cowgirls in dancing in drag in Boystown makes me laugh, running, running, hearing a DJ blasting "Eye of the Tiger" gets me pumped up again, running, running

11:37 AM I cross the finish line, thankfully with out slipping and falling



Yeah, the winner ended up with bleeding in his brain. Thank goodness I'm not that fast.

12:15 AM I win best dressed finisher award as well.


Everybody gets a mylar blanket as you cross the finish line. I've been using mine to protect myself from alien mind control.

Congratulations to Rick Herbst, Chris Herbst, Adam Pash, Ellen Flaherty, Beth Kessler, and all 33,633 finishers of the 2006 Chicago Marathon!