17 was the Marshall University Marathon in Huntington, West Virgina on November 5 2006.

Huntington is a flat course along the Ohio River. I don't race marathons, so I thought that I would go out slow and shoot for four hours. I ran the first mile in 9 minutes and then settled into an 8 minute pace, gradually coming down. I passed 13 miles at about 1:43. The start temperature was 42 F, the end was at 55 F. I was feeling pretty good so I brought the speed up gradually in the second half. I finished 34th out of 288 in 3:24:46, qualifying for Boston first time out in my easy age group.

The race finishes on the Marshall University Football Field. One can carry a football for the last 100 yards, which was a lot of fun.

Rachael came along and ran the half marathon.