Pace teams! In a marathon of only a few hundred people? Are you crazy? But Dr. Rick was once again inspired. Let's have celebrity-pace pace teams. What else would one expect from a guy who drinks pickle juice before a marathon?

At the moment, we - sponsors of the inaugural Grand Rapids Marathon Oct. 31 - are planning on five different paces: Billy Baldwin 3:24 pace, George W. 3:44 pace; Will Ferrell 3:56 pace, P. Diddy 4:14 pace, and the Oprah 4:29 pace. The Khalid Khannouchi pace thing isn't working too well for us, but if you know anyone who wants to do that one, have him get in touch with us.

What Do I Get for My Money?

Every day questions come in from interested people. One guy asked, "Why is the price so high? What do I get for my $45?"

Good question. Everyone knows you get a shirt (a technical shirt, in our case) and medal, but there are myriad other services every marathon runner needs (even if he or she never uses them). From the obvious things - such as water and sports drink, post-race goomies, petroleum jelly and porta-johns - to the not so obvious.

Course certification so the race can be a Boston qualifier. USATF sanction, which includes race liability insurance. A medical tent at the start/finish area, along with aid stations manned by trained medical personal. More than 100 volunteers to support runners, all of whom get shirts and at least one meal.

The Official Training Program

Meanwhile, a longtime acquaintance - Neil Cook, of SLB Coaching and Training Systems - contacted me and offered to put together the official Grand Rapids Marathon Training Program. Neil is the man who trained Sean "P. Diddy" Combs to run the New York City Marathon. The hot link is on www.grandrapidsmarathon.com, with lots of training advice and a week-by-week schedule to prepare runners for the marathon distance.

On-line Registration

We started on-line registration through MarathonGuide.com in March, and on the first day had three people sign up. Originally, we were hoping to use on-line registration exclusively, but even in 2004 there are people who don't want to use the Internet or don't trust typing in their credit card number. So paper registration is available as well.

Help from Martians

On March 27, I paid a visit to the Martian Marathon in Northville and spent time with race directors Randy Step and Tami Duquette. The Martian Marathon is a great small race, of about the size we expect our Grand Rapids event to be. Randy and Tami were full of information about medals, course certification, organizing volunteers and finish-line results.

Course Certification

We're also becoming acquainted with USATF Road Running Technical Council guidelines. For a course to be certified, it must be at least the correct distance, measured according to technical standards that they set up. Certification will mean that the Grand Rapids Marathon will be a Boston qualifier.

Here's a tip: when you run any race, make sure you run the tangents, because that's the way courses are measured.

More details fall into place every day - the pasta dinner and post-race party, the chip timing, finishers' medals and t-shirts are in the works. Product sponsorships are coming in. More and more people are offering help and encouragement as anticipation builds. This is going to be a great marathon.

By the way, if you'd like to read the Legend of Dr. Rick and the Pickle Juice, check out www.cooladventures.net.

And the adventure continues ... MR