The weather in St. Louis was terrible. When my alarm went off Sunday morning - I turned on the TV to see the forecast for the day. Snow, Sleet, and freezing rain. Temp was 35, wind chill was 25.

For some stupid reason, I still got out of bed, got dressed and went to the starting line. About 1 minute before the start of the race, it began to rain. The race start was delayed by about 5 minutes to allow plenty of time for us to get soaked before starting.

At 2 miles we ran in front of Bush Stadium, home of the Cardinals. The sign in front of the stadium reported 34 degrees. By this time it was really raining / sleeting HARD! The wind was blowing so hard that the rain was propelled straight toward us like bullets. Quit? Not me. I am not that smart.

At about 3 miles the runner next to me stepped in a deep puddle of water and the wave of water he produced soaked my right foot. The ice cold water quickly ran through the top of my shoe and surrounded my toes, starting with the big toe and then chilling each toe as it seeped from left to right. Quit? Not me. I am not that smart.

Before 5 miles I had stepped into a large puddle and soaked the left foot. Ahhh. At least now I feel balanced.

Low and behold, at 10 miles the rain let up and completely stopped by 11 miles. Of course, by now I had water dripping from my elbows, dripping from my gloves, dripping from my hair, and dripping from the bill of my cap. Quit? Now me. I am not that smart.

At mile 19 I was still well ahead of my best marathon pace ever. Rain, sleet, whatever. I was still running a fast race. At that point I began having severe stomach pains. I felt like I was going to be sick, but kept running. Quit? Not me. I am not that smart.

At mile 20 my stomach was hurting so bad that I slowed a little. It was then that I went from freezing to just hurting all over. I have never felt so cold in all my life. Temp was still around 35, wind chill around 25 and I was soaking wet, 95% of my skin was wrinkled up like your hands get when you have been in the pool for hours.

Just as I passed 20 miles is when it really got bad. The cold - I was surviving. The rain - just wet, I would live through it. The wind - tough, but so am I. But, as I passed 20 miles the wind picked back up and what happened - FROZEN RAIN! My lips, cold and hard from 20 miles of exposure, were bombarded with frozen daggers. My cheeks, red and chapped, were pelted by the small frozen stones being hurled at me 20 miles per hour. It was then that I had to really examine my logic behind being in that place at that time. What went through my mind?

- I want to run a marathon in each of the 50 states.

- If I quit, I will have to drive back to Missouri to get the state covered.

- If I quit, I will have to run 20 miles just to get back to the point I am at now.

- If I quit, the weather may be bad again next time.

- If I quit, it will be fairly expensive to get back here and sign up again.

- But, most importantly, if I quit I still have to find a way back to the hotel. The hotel is on the other side of the finish area. I might as well finish on my way back to the hotel.

Quit? Not me. My brain is frozen.

So, I run/walk on. At mile 21 I spy a porta-potty without a waiting line! Do I need to use the potty? No. But..... I bet the wind isn't blowing inside the potty. I step inside the little, smelly cubicle and close the door to find that it is at least 50 degrees warmer out of the wind. Ok, now, how long to I stay here? I take off my gloves and squeeze the icy water from them. I struggle to pull them back on my hands as the wet cloth resists. I am reminded of OJ Simpson - "If it doesn't fit, you must"...... what was the next word? QUIT! That is it! Quit! Well, maybe the correct quote was acquit. Quit sounded better. Where are those mylar blankets they hand out at the finish.

I jerk violently as another runner knocks on the door and brings me back to reality. Anybody in there?

Yea, I am almost finished I reply. I look at my watch to see that I have only been there 30 seconds. I open the door and run / walk on. Quit? Not me. I am too busy dreaming of a cheap mylar wrap at the finish line.

By mile 22 the frozen rain has stopped. I can see a long gradual hill in the distance. It begins at the entrance of St. Louis University. My stomach is still killing me and I am doing good to maintain a 15 minute per mile slow walk pace. Just before passing through the entrance I see what I think is a water stop on the right. I hear someone call out. "Bud Light, get your cold Bud Light here!" Ok, a joke. But, I still need to go over and get a cup of water to keep going. When I get closer I see that there is actually a keg of beer. I am thinking... I am frozen, my stomach is killing me, and I can't run. Why not have a beer? I pick up a glass and guzzle it down. I really dislike beer. However, it goes down quite easily. I know, taste buds are frozen.

Within 1/4 mile I am feeling better. Stomach no longer hurts. The wind had died down a little. I can actually run some more. I slowly increase the pace until I have converted back from walking to running. By mile 25 I am passing other runners. By mile 26 I can see the finish area just 2/10 mile up the road. I run across the finish line and pick up my very nice, large finishers' medal. I didn't look at the clock or even stop my stopwatch. I had finished! I look around to grab my cheap mylar blanket about which I had been dreaming only to find that they had exhausted the supply.

Riding to work this morning, I saw my finisher's medal on the seat beside me. I said to myself - Self, you didn't enjoy anything about that race but the finish. Why is it that that medal means so much to you? The effort we exert to overcome obstacles is often much more rewarding than achieving the goal set before us. I finished my 6th marathon, a fact about which I am proud. But, I did it in the face of adversity. Adversity so significant that I would have certainly failed if I would have known in advance the challenges I would face. Wait, is this a marathon or my life?