My more-than-capable colleague (and wife of many years) slipped me an unusual cruise story yesterday. It’s about a man and a marathon…actually, a man and many marathons, the latest of which he may be running as we speak, somewhere on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
This is not a man who can run on water, although in my world anybody who can run a marathon deserves that kind of stature, but he can run a marathon on a ship on water. The ship is the Grand Princess (left), the man is Steve Eaton and by all accounts this will be his 31st marathon, all but 30 of them on cruise ships.
If you’re wondering why he’s doing this, the story on the Sunday Mercury’s website in England has all the details. In short, it’s a tribute to a friend, Christopher Chacksfield, a police officer who was murdered last year. A charity called Help for Heroes was dear to Christopher’s heart, and Marathon Man hopes to raise 100,000 pounds (about $165,000) in his buddy’s memory.
Eaton’s going to start running laps — 76 of them — around the Grand Princess at 6 a.m. on
a day when the sea is nothing more than a light chop. He’s hoping passengers will join him for a lap or two. More than that, he’s hoping passengers will contribute to the cause.
It’s a nice story and it may get the attention of the folks at Guinness because by all accounts a marathon has never been run at sea.
There’s only one thing wrong with the story.
Steve Eaton is called a “Grandad” and I’m sure there’s a bunch of us hoping the idea won’t spread…although I’m also sure we could run 76 laps around the Grand Princess.
Between sleeps, that is.