8 Stages of Marathon Running

From excitement to despair to elation in 26.2 miles.

From the excitement of Mile 1, to the shock of Mile 5 and the despair of Mile 19, nothing's quite like the emotional roller coaster of running a marathon. This cartoon takes a look into the mind of a first time marathon runner as he experiences everything from Runner's High, Runner's Trots, and hitting "The Wall," all over the course of 26.2 miles.

MUSIC

Fluffing a Duck by Kevin MacLeod

GET MORE BUZZFEED:

[hailey]

“Stop passing me you jerks”
Me during any race I’ve ever done

[cjoe]

Eliud is stuck at stage 1 till the end.

[holly]

For me, this is the eight stages of running a mile.

[hwvd]

My 8 stages

1-YOU CAN DO THIS
2-WHYYYY DID I DO THIS
3-IM SO BEHIND
4-REGRET
5-REGRET
6-REGRET
7-REGRET
8-NEVER AGAIN

(Only ran 5 meters)

[amyzhang]

My 8 stages:
Why the hell am I doing this.
Repeated over and over.

[El_PatronSeb]

This is me when walking up the stairs in school

[branthebrave]

Looking at all of these "I get tired after running 1 mile" comments make me feel way more active than I am.

[justinburton]

No wonder he's so tired his running form is hard to look at.

[rachellowery]

I go through these stages while running 1 mile

[kimlsnyder]

I get cramps usually a three miles in.

[myeyelashesarelongerthanyo]

"The 8 stages of walking up the stairs"

[ZebraluvsZebrasPRINCESSMILLY]

This all happens to me.


Running one mile.


For PE.

[GDNachoo]

Me before clicking: This seems interesanting
*Clicks*
Buzzfeed prese-
Me: Oops, it's buzzfeed, ok i guess ill go away now

[Caleb-bpbm]

u must've mixed up 'miles' and 'steps'

[KC_Smooth]

Hilarious! "Stop passing me you jerks!"

[nicholasmaynard]

I would be at "the wall" the entire time

[crazyzombiebos]

So relatable to a cross country meet as well as practice each time coach increases your mileage

[ChefRski-OurKitchenChemistry]

Having run my first full marathon yesterday, I can tell you each one of the stages is about right on the money.  Stage 4, isolation?  You bet, I was in a wooded area and thought I must have made a wrong turn until I caught up to a few runners.  I didn't collapse but oddly enough got a second or third wind.  Today I feel like I am going to in places I didn't know could get sore.  Running the last 200 yards to the finish line is a feeling I will never forget.  Made the months of long weekday and weekend runs all worth it.

[whyhellothere]

8 stages for me:
Stage 1: Wailing
Stage 2: Despair
Stage 3: Depression
Stage 4: Hunger
Stage 5: Pain
Stage 6: Jealousy of people passing me
Stage 7: Power through
Stage 8: Death

[juanoshigeru]

ive run multiple marathons in my life and i can tell you, this represents 100% accurately my first marathon experience haha as im sure it does with other people