I hate to admit it but I have to – I was wrong. I have been wrong for years.

For a long time, I have been telling people who ran long distances races they were a bit crazy. You train, and train, and train, so you can pay money to run a long distance, at the end of which your body hurts, and some times, you even throw up. Sure you get refreshments along the way, like water, sports drinks, and some packages filled with a thick, glue-like substance that is supposed to provide you some energy, but I was just not convinced it was a wise use of money.

I preferred the long bike rides. Yes, I had to train for them and they also cost money, but there were so many more advantages to them. The rest stops along the way were filled with stuff I liked to eat, like cookies, candy bars, and donuts. At the end of one ride, I had root beer floats.

Though I never biked in one that did, some rides even provided free beer!

The physical activity aspect of bike riding was better, too. When you stop moving your legs on runs, you stop. When biking, you coast. When running, you have to run up and down the hills. When biking, on the way down a hill, once again, you get to coast.

It was just a no-brainer to me. Biking was the way to go.

Then I was persuaded to sign up for the Fall 50 – a 50-mile run in Door County in Wisconsin.

To be clear, I did not run the entire 50 miles, though many runners did. I was in a relay team with my brother, his wife, her sister, and my wife.

My wife was inspiring. She readily admits to not being a runner and to have never run more than a few miles at a time before training for this race. She ran her first leg of the relay, 5.3 miles, at a 10:00 minute per mile pace, one minute per mile faster than she had ever run. She ran her second leg, 4.5 miles, at just a slightly slower pace, while battling some intense leg pain from the start. I was impressed.

With around 1700 or so runners, I am sure there were many other inspirational stories I could write about.

For me, though, the race was just a lot of fun. There were serious runners, but most runners just wanted to have a good time. Teams were encouraged to dress up and prizes were awarded for the best costumes. I do not know which team won but some of my favorites were the all-female team dressed up like girl scouts, the team dressed up in 1970s outfits, using an RV as their team vehicle, and the team wearing prosthetic butts.

Even the rest stops were better than I had hoped. Other than a few glasses of Gatorade, I am not sure I chose a healthy item all day, unless you count chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as healthy.

Overall, it was a great experience I would recommend to almost anyone.

Oh, and did I mention, the post race party included unlimited free beer, wine, and pizza!

I guess running isn’t so crazy after all.

P.S. Here is the link to the Fall 50 website. http://www.fall50.com/

If you are interested in running it next year, just know that within three hours of the registration opening last April, all 360 relay spots were filled.