Ryan Snyder, Marathon Maniac #3204

Run Wild Missoula member Ryan Snyder's recent long-distance running fit reached a fever pitch during a Thanksgiving weekend visit to Seattle, when he couldn't stop himself from running two marathons in two days and was committed to the Seattle-based Insane Asylum for Marathon Maniacs. His Mania has advanced to the Iridium level. Snyder finished the Ghost of Seattle Marathon in 3:35:43 (8th place overall)on November 27, and ran the Seattle Marathon the next day in 3:57:04.

Snyder's diagnosis as a Marathon Maniac comes as no surprise to people who willingly run a day in his life before that year, he ran the entirety of Bridgett's Infamous 40+ Mile Birthday Run just months after running his first race, the Missoula Half Marathon. His first full marathon was the 2010 Missoula Marathon, which he completed in 4:11:51 after imbibing of whiskey ("just one shot, man") at the halfway point, and his deterioration after that into full-fledged Mania was rapid, influenced in part by Vo von Sehlen, whose own Mania, while not officially diagnosed, has been highly evident this year. Snyder soon began filling his time running half marathons backwards and doing two long runs each weekend, always with ahappy-go-lucky smile and positive attitude belying the seriousness of his condition.

The condition appears to be hereditary; Snyder's baby has already completed a half marathon in the company of its mother, Leigh Griffing, and the kid hasn't even been born yet. Snyder's commitment in the Insane Asylum is lifelong (provided he pays the annual dues).

Marathon Mania, first identified in 2003, affects a small but rapidly growing portion of the running population. Information about the condition is available at http://marathonmaniacs.com/.
(Congratulations, dude!)
~Kelsi Camp

Beer Runs 2010

2010 is over and we seem to have a pretty good head of steam going with the Beer Runs. Our first official beer run was in July, when we started from the Silver Dollar and ran up and around Water Works Hill. As I recall we had a bit less than 20 people show up, but that was enough to convince us to give it another go in August.

Sitting here trying to type with semi-frozen fingers I think back fondly to our second Beer Run, we started at the Bayern Brewery on what may have been the hottest day of the year. The crowd of Beer Runners grew and I remember having a great time out on the Bayern Deck, chatting with the runners and enjoying the lagers and pilsners. And as wonderful as the beer was, and the food has been on the last couple runs, (Fat Cat Pizza and Double Front Chicken,) the thing that I enjoy the most about our Beer Runs is getting to meet up with some of the other folks in our running community. Some of you I see at group runs or races, but we haven't had much time to socialize. Either we are too serious about the race, or during the group runs our paces are varied enough that we don't end up running together.

As our Beer Runs draw more runners, I get a chance to meet more and more of my neighbors in our little community. And I get to know many of you a bit better. I was surprised at how many hard core fanatics there are in the group. There were around 30 that turned out for the run last week in the wind and cold. Though it wasn't as bad as I expected, there were still a few"what the #$%#" am I thinking moments as I headed into the East wind coming out of Hellgate Canyon.

So I don't normally make New Year's Resolutions, but this year I will make one: I resolve to keep having fun with the rest of the Beer Runners on the last Wednesday of the Month. And this month I will meet you all on the 26th at the Oxford on Higgins, and I will be watching to see if any of you are hard core enough to order the brains and eggs.

Thanks for doing your part to make these Beer Runs as successful as they have been.
~Your Chancellor of Libations, Pat

Jeff Galloway to Run/Walk/Run the Missoula Marathon

All of us on the Missoula Marathon Committee had a great time hosting Jeff Galloway's visit to Missoula this week. We hope people who thought that completing a half or full marathon was just beyond all possibility, will now reconsider using Jeff's run/walk/run method. We have been trained and are ready to pass that information on to anyone who would like to hear.

Best of all, Jeff promised that when he returns in July for our event, that he will participate and anyone may run with he and his wife, Barbara.

Thank you, Jeff for spending time in Missoula -- especially in January!