Out of his freakin' mind

Robert Friedman

Ashburn, Virginia
50

Running Experience:
Intermediate

Why should we pick you to go to the North Pole?:
Running around the north pole looking for Santa...on tax day! What a yin/yang experience. As you will see below, I am an exeperience marathon, but a mid-packer that everyone can related to. I am a former network TV reporter with a flair for telling a great story...both in words and pictures.

Tell us about your cold-weather race experience:
As stated above, I do my winter training outdoors. I run in the Rotary Resolution Cross Country 10K in Leesburg, VA on January 1 each year. The conditions, cold and icy trails, can be a challenge. I also run the in Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in DC, which has been run in some pretty rotten weather.

Tell us about your marathon experience, including times, results, etc.:
I have run 8 marathons in the last seven years. Most recent times:
Amsterdan Holland: Fall 2007 4:18
Boston Marathon: Spring 2007 4:38
Boston Marathon: Spring 2006 4:36
My PR is a 3:58 in Chicago in 2002.

What do you expect your North Pole Marathon time to be?:
8:30

Can you write well? Explain:
What runner hasn't read the stories Runner's World about the North and South Pole marathons. Our first thought is, "Wouldn't that be a blast to run and face the personal challenge'" which is quickly followed by a second thought, "You'd have to be crazy to go out and freeze your *&%^# in that weather" and "What would you wear?". As an everyday mid-packer, I think a lot of runner would get caught up in living vicariously through me as I prepare for my assault on the North Pole Marathon and wrestle with the daily questions..."Won't this be a running experience of a lifetime?" "I must be out of my freakin' mind."

Tell us about your media experience:
I was a radio and TV journalist for 10 years, including four years as a network correspondent for ABC News and PBS's nationally broadcast "Nightly Business Report". I have done feature reporting for CBS, "Good Morning America", CNN, and ESPN. In recent years, I owned a small restaurant chain and shot, edited and wrote all of our training videos. I wrote, produced and starred in radio commercials on Washington's top station, and did regular radio appearances (dressed in a pig costume) on several morning radio shows. Websites : I'd be happy to mail you these to you. I am just now setting up my office at home and don't have the capabilties for all of this quite yet.

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