In Pictures - Twin Cities Marathon: The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America

At the start line. On the left is taken about 7am, as the 10-mile race is starting and no one running the marathon wants to be outside. Note there are no rain clouds in the sky. That didn't last long.

It's hard to explain what happens in the Metrodome before the start of the race. It's a lot of resting and talking. I ran into a friend there and we chatted and it was excellent. On the right is at the starting line. I'm thinking "I'm not awake yet, so I don't really care what's about to happen."

Two very important reasons I actually finished the race and felt good, even though I had a blow up in the middle somewhere. Thanks again. You kept me smiling the whole way.

Good. Let's move on from marathons to a new challenge. Next year, I either want to run in the 10-miler, or I want to sit out on the course and cheer the entire time runners are going by. I want to have a camp chair and be sitting in it when the wheelers go by, and not go home until the sag wagon sweeps by and the roads re-open. Depending on the part of the course, I could probably do both.