Weeble finally had enough. T3 and Sweet Tee were on the way to take them some enduralights when the call came in that Weeble was at Mile 23 and was done. Mav had gone on, so T3 and Sweet Tee parked as close as possible to the park and walked up the hill to retrieve Brother Weeble. Once Weeble was safely back in the vehicle they hauled it back to the finish line to try to catch Mav.

Meanwhile, Mav was still dancing and  talking his way to the finish, so it turned out they had plenty of time to get there.

As Mav approached the finish line he was weeving side to side like a drunk as he danced and high fived the crowd on BOTH sides of the shute. Right at the finish line he dropped and did 26 push-ups.

You might notice the lack of other runners in the background. Given the troubles Weeble had, by the time Mav got to the finish it was 5:27 into the race.

In the post finish area the Pirañas ran into Richard. Richard has ‘run’ the OKC Memorial Marathon several times and the Pirañas have seen him at lost of other races. Richard pushes a standard wheelchair in the marathon, not a racing chair, not a light wheelchair, but a standard, heavy, slow wheelchair. Richard is an inspiration to us all.

Great friends, great race, great day.

Take all you can, Give nothing back!

T3 and Sweet Tee headed out onto the marathon course to find Mav and Weeble. Weeble is having foot problems and has had to slow WAAAAYYYY down. Mav is committed to staying with him, so on they go. Somewhere past mile 19, the brothers met up:

When they started the girls were not part of the team. It is unclear at this point exactly what was going on here.

Mav would never leave his wingman, no matter what. But nobody said he couldn’t have a whole lotta fun while helping a brother to the finish line. Somewhere around mile 19 Mav was dancing to the music from a local band and the singer started singing about him, “orange guy, dancing in the road,” so that is Mav’s new identity, He is the Orange Dude, Dancing in the Road.

T3 and Sweet Tee are currently headed back out onto the course to take the brothers some enduralites.

P.I.T. Sweet Tee debuted at the half marathon distance today. Being the son of a race director and therefore friends with all the other race directors has it’s privileges, and being able to hang out at the front of the start line with the race officials is just one of them: here Sweet Tee poses with T3 and Exec Director Chris Lieberman.

So after saying hi to all their friends at the race, T3 and Sweet Tee lined up and waited for the starting gun. When the shotgun went off they quickly settled into a brisk pace (about 7:48) and enjoyed the sunshine, the crowds and the simple pleasure of running. That lasted for about 10 miles, then it got a little harder to maintain their pace. But maintain they did. The Route 66 Marathon and Half Marathon course starts fast and flat so that it can end by taking the runners through a series of grueling hills. Somehow through the hills the Pirañas actually picked it up a little and managed to finish out the 13.1 at 7:44 pace for a 1:41:03 finish:

Meanwhile, a phone call to Mav and Weeble finds them at mile 16 on pace for about a 5 hour marathon! T3 and Sweet Tee are going to go and find out what happened…

The Piraña Brothers are at the Route 66 Marathon and Half Marathon today. The morning started when Weeble and Mav arrived at T3’s house around 5:45 and the crew (including P.I.T. Sweet Tee) left for T-Town. After cruising up the turnpike listening to tunes, the team pulled into VIP parking mere feet from the start/finish line and began their preparations for the day:

Of course, the brothers were unable to keep Mav dressed (which is not unusual.)

With minutes to spare the brothers made their way to the start line to get positioned at the front (ensuring that they would go out way to fast!) Mav and Weeble are running the full (8:00 AM start) while T3 and Sweet Tee are running the half (9:00 AM start).

Of course, even when the Pirañas aren’t running, they are always plugged in to the local scene. This morning finds Brother Obi managing the start line for their friend Chris Leiberman.

And then the announcer made the final countdown, the gun fired, and they were off:

It is a great day to run! the temp is about 36° and will only get up in the low 60’s all day. The wind is light and the sun is shining. It is great to be alive!

Not being the kind to sit on their butts, the Pirañas are already planning their next assault (actually, they registered for this race several weeks ago!)

The Route 66 Marathon is a great race created and directed by Chris Leiberman. The Pirañas have participated in this event every year and love going. This year it looks like Mav and Weeble will do the marathon and T3 and P.I.T. Sweet Tee will do the half. This will be Sweet Tee’s first half and it will be cool to do it as a father-son thing.

Two years ago, Mav did the full in 3:30 after the Mother Road the weekend before (sub 23 finish) and then combined throwing up and pooping on the way home in ways no one had seen before. That turned out to be the second event in Sweet Tee’s introduction to ultra running. One weekend he saw his dad (T3) laying on the floor of Carl’s Jr. screaming like a girl after the Mother Road, then the following weekend he witnessed Mav’s breakdown. In a testimony to male bonding and testosterone, Sweet Tee was hooked, and has trained with the Brothers ever since.