Oh No She Di'int.

This past summer, Tommy (3:22 in Bay State marathon)and Madeleine's kids Elsa and Maslin, ages 7 and 5, respectively, were visiting from Milan, where they live with their mom. At some point towards the end of their stay Elsa made the observation to Madeleine that "boys run marathons and girls run half-marathons, right?"

What I wouldn't give to see Madeleine's face after this inquiry.

Though she's run several half marathons and is an accomplished cyclist(Team Tharm, pictured at left!), swimmer (8th grade breast stroke champion at the local pool), soccer player (Duke '95-'99), not to mention a physician, trampoline expert, and cheese and chocolate afficionado, Madeleine was on the fence about running a marathon...until, of course, Elsa dropped the aforementioned bomb, thereby shoving Maddy out of the status quo and smack dab in the middle of serious marathon training.

It was thus decided that Maddy and Molly would run the Spinx this coming Saturday with Joy, who was already in training. For various reasons, Joy and Molly are out of the running, so to speak, but Maddy and Tommy and the kids are heading this way on Friday for Maddy to make her marathon debut on Saturday morning.

During our training, Maddy and I have both lamented that we have not exactly gotten the rail-thin runner's body that we don't necessarily want, per se, but that we maybe expected (hoped) might materialize after miles and miles of pounding the pavement. I mean, if we both got ridiculously ripped and skinny I don't think you'd hear any complaints, is all I'm saying. I do think Maddy's been exaggerating, however; based on the photo at right she is wasting away, almost Lilliputian in stature.

You can see from this photo that Maddy is funny and beautiful and stylish and up for anything. So when Elsa proposed the above question, though she didn't mean it as a challenge, that's exactly what it became. And in the short time I've known Maddy, I know enough to know that she's not one to back down from a challenge, especially when it's one that's imperative in shaping her step-daughter's views of women and what we can do. Watching her bust out Run DMC's "It's Tricky" on the dance floor at her wedding reception to a captive audience, I knew that this woman is formidable, a force to be reckoned with.

All the Barnhardts and the Dickersons and Days will be out on Saturday cheering for Madeleine as she runs 26.2. Come on out and watch her show Elsa-and the rest of us-what women can do.