How far will I run in 9 hours 11 minutes?

First off, I woke up this morning feeling great. I think I've got my mojo back! I'm looking forward to kicking ass on my run after work today! I've also settled on a new challenge. The Patriots' Run in Olathe, KS. This race is all about honoring those that were lost on 9/11/01 and those that risked their own lives to save others. The race is a 1 mile course at the Great Mall in Olathe, but it is anything but a 1 mile race! It is 9 hours 11 minutes long. You can run as much or as little as you want during that time. I've lined up my new Ultra partner Jill to do it with me, and I've gotten some solid "maybe" and "probably" from others. I'm hoping to line up people to run with us. However much they want. But Jill and I will be running to see how far we can get. I'm also going to try to get some folks to volunteer to work a permanent aid station for us. As I said, it's only a 1 mile course, so they can set up somewhere and we will have a place stop rest, eat, get something to drink, etc when we need it. Obviously you cannot go 9:11 without food, water or rest, so whomever does this will be literally life savers for us. At this point I have no expectation of how far we can go, but I'm sure that with each other and support from friends and family we will surprise ourselves.

I've been asked why do this? What's the point? I think about all the time I spent sitting on the coach being lazy for no good reason. Then I think about all of the people that want to be active but can't be. Some are soldiers that came home injured unable to use their bodies as they did while they defended my freedom. Some are athletes that got hurt in a sporting event, training or an accident. Some are people with diseases that prevent them from being as active as they want. There are many reason. The point is, those people want to be active and cannot be, what right to I have to take my fully capable body and use it to do nothing but sit and watch TV? Instead I'll see how far I can push my body. I'll continue to challenge myself to find out what I've got inside. Every time I do that I'm surprised by the results. I'm stronger than I ever dreamed. I'll go out there for 9 hours 11 minutes to honor everyone effected by 9/11/01.