Last year, I ran two marathons, seven days apart. So this year, I decided to run a marathon and an ultra marathon…two weeks apart.

I mean, what could go wrong?

(Ok there, Hercules, what is an ultra marathon?)

It’s Philippides.

(Who?)

The guy who ran the first marathon.

(What?)

The original marathon was run by Philippides in 490 bc.

(Wait. The distance between the Battle of Marathon and the city of Sparta is 140 miles.)

An Ironman Triathlon is 140.6 miles.

(Right. So where do we get 26.2 miles from?)

The distance between the Battle of Marathon and the city of Athens.

(That’s 25 miles. Ok Pythagoras, where did the extra 1.2 miles come from?)

The 1908 London Olympics. The organizers decided the race should finish in front of the Kings viewing box.

(So back to my question: what is an ultra marathon?)

Any running race longer than 26.2 miles. This year the New York Knickerbocker is being held on Sunday, in New York City.

(Which part of New York City?)

Central Park.

(And just how far is this ultra marathon?)

60K.

(Hey Einstein, I don’t speak metric. Please translate.)

37 miles.

(You are going to run, 37 miles, in Central Park??)

I hope to.

(Just how many laps is that?)

Nine laps.

(I’m not sure what is crazier, that you are planning to run an ultra, you are doing it two weeks after a full marathon or that you are doing nine, four mile loops in Central Park?)

They give us nine and a half hours to complete this race.

(Can you even run for that long?)

We are going to find out on November 17.

David Roher is a USAT certified marathon and triathlon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and a veteran special education teacher. He can be reached at: [email protected]