DEEP is how they dug! (part one)

they did it!!!! four hours of BLOOD (marlon's bloody nipples), SWEAT (mike & marlon) AND TEARS (nicole & krista)!!!

there were two races that occurred that sunday in paris...mike & marlon's race to beat the clock and nicole & krista's race to beat mike and marlon (m&m)!!

the day began at 6am when m&m met for a high protein breakfast down in the hotel lobby. two hours later in matching bright yellow shirts, nicole & krista followed them to the start of the race on the champs d'elysee. it was a dry but brisk morning so a quick run around the arch de triomphe was in order for them to warm up and get the blood flowing! after a photograph session, words of encouragement and of course hugs and kisses, it was time to rock n' roll! m&m along with 35,000 other runners started their 'funnel' to their pace group while nicole & krista headed to the first meeting point via the metro.


having been on the metro the day before and having mapped out the route to take, nicole and krista were confident that their journey would be a smooth and timely one. thinking they were ahead of the game, or should i say race, they decided to hop off the metro and cheer the guys on at the 6km mark instead of going directly to the planned 10km point. little did they know, this was their first mistake...

having time to spare (or so they thought), they popped into a cafe for a quick cappuccino while they wrote motivational words on their fluorescent signs.
they then secured a perfect spot where they cheered not only m&m on but the elite runners on as well!
their first clue that something wasn't right was when they noticed how tired the runners looked for only being at 6km!! their second clue was the fact that marlon's nipples were bleeding ...at 6km?!? but oblivious to the fact that they were actually at the 22km mark, they set off to the next pre-determined meeting point - 12km.

once at chateau de viciences, they were told in broken english that they missed the marathon - that the last of the runners ran by well over an hour ago! blaming it on the language barrier, they continuously argued with the officials saying that it just could not be that they were just at the 6km mark only 10 minutes ago!?! frustrated, confused and not a runner in sight they had no choice but to proceed to their next stop - 26km. again, the same explanation awaited them. this time they boarded the metro close to tears unable to make sense of it all and feeling SO disappointed in themselves. they decided that they would just play it safe and head back to the finish line. on the journey back, it finally dawned on them what went wrong and what i-d-i-o-t-s they were!!! to make a long story short - they didn't cross reference the metro map with the marathon route correctly...silly especially when krista lived and breathed the tube in london for 3 years! additionally, they misjudged the timing of the start of the race. two factors that had them playing cat and mouse the entire afternoon! once they gained their composure they realized that even the chances of cheering m&m across the finish line were looking slim!! after numerous metro delays and a sprint to the finish line themselves they missed m&m by only minutes!! :(

when they eventually found m&m in the huge mass of runners and spectators, tears met the ecstatic yet exhausted runners along with their final sign...


so, clearly the only winners of the 2 races that occurred that day were mike and marlon!!!

WELL DONE!!!!