“Well, why wouldn't you?” said Andrew after finishing the marathon with his wife on Sunday morning, “It's a fantastic place. We couldn't speak highly enough about everything. The organization and the scenery are just so beautiful. We passed a field of horses, and just as we went past, they started neighing - it was like they were cheering. It's just spectacular.”
While the husband-and-wife team has traveled quite a bit, they have never visited the Garden City.
Race director Jennifer Straughan, who had e-mail correspondence with the O'Briens before they flew in, said the committee hasn't done anything in particular to attract international runners this year.
“But it's something we would like to focus on more because people coming from other countries are really attracted to Montana,” she said just before cheering on the couple to the finish line.
Even as the O'Briens raved about how much they loved the Missoula course, the people lining the roadside and volunteers helping along the way, Andrew said every place they visit is their favorite.
After leaving Missoula on Monday, the couple will fly to Thailand for their sixth marathon, the Pattaya. The Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos, Switzerland, comes next, and they conclude their world tour Aug. 3 at the Townsville Marathon in Queensland, Australia.
Although the O'Briens are frequent marathon running partners, they didn't plan to run so many marathons in such a short amount of time.
“When we started off, we wanted to do the race in South Africa,” she said while waiting for the race to begin a little before 6:00 a.m. in Frenchtown. “Then we sort of started to grow from there.” She said it became more efficient to purchase around-the-world flights instead of going back to Australia and traveling to each country from there.
They started capturing little stories as they traveled, said Andrew, who works at a consulting firm when he's not running marathons. He added that they plan to write a book about the importance of running with a partner.
“Whether it be with a friend or a businessperson,” said Sue, a physical therapist and group exercise instructor. “It's so much better to run with someone than on your own.”
Sue said prior to the race that one of the couple's mottos is “Every step together,” which they put to the test during their run on Sunday.
“I was having really bad pains; I had to stop three times,” Andrew said at the finish line. “We lost over 20 minutes.” He said he wasn't sure whether it had something to do with the stomach pains he experienced earlier in the week, or if it was something he ate before the race.
Sue stayed with her husband throughout the
pit stops.
“Rule number one is we never leave each other, so if we were out here for eight hours we would still be together,” Andrew said. “That's been the big thing we've learned out of our time together, and it's translating to our marriage and to the rest of our lives. You know, the easy way is just to walk off and leave, the hard way is sometimes to stay. But the benefit is just so great.”
In Frenchtown, Andrew said they always do the last 50 meters of marathons holding hands, and Missoula was no exception.
Despite Andrew's stomach pains, the couple still triumphantly finished under the rainbow archway of balloons, clasping hands, in just over 4 hours and 15 minutes.
To track Andrew and Sue O'Brien throughout the rest of their travels, visit www.partnerunning.com.
Elizabeth Harrison is a newsroom intern at the Missoulian. She is a graduate student in the University of Montana journalism school.
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