Seaside Vacations

Addictions come in all shapes in sizes, and amazingly enough marathons are an addiction for some!

Eugene Defronzo, 73,  is a self-proclaimed marathon addict, and last week he finished his 402^nd marathon.  The 2009 OBX Marathon took place on November 8^th, and Eugene made the trek from Connecticut to participate in the scenic race.

As a result of his accomplishments, the Wall Street Journal “ran” an article today, and a video interview with Eugene was featured on the homepage of MSN.com today.  The video has some great footage of the 2009 Outer Banks marathon.        

Eugene feels that marathons are a way to relieve stresses and feel a sense of accomplishment.  A subculture of mega-marathoners, or people that have run hundreds of races, has emerged as running marathons has become more popular. 

Many people get caught up in their “run time” and lose the ability to take in the full marathon experience.  Not Eugene, “My aim is to run this in finish time — whatever time it takes to finish,” he said. “I’m not looking for any hour or minute.” The winner ended up beating Eugene by 4 hours and 27 minutes as he finished with a time of just over 7 hours.  When he crossed the finish line, he said “I’m glad that’s over with,” as a volunteer draped him with another finisher’s medal.  ”It wasn’t that hard, but still, it’s 26 miles.”