Former Sports Editor Chronicles Marathon

Former Grand Island Independent Sports Editor Jeff Korbelik, who is now an arts and entertainment writer for the Lincoln Journal Star, co-wrote a column Tuesday with regional reporter Cara Pesek about their experience.

Korbelik (pictured wearing the headband in a photo by Journal Star photographer Eric Gregory), finished the 26.2 miles in four hours and 46 minutes.

"The first half was like a party, the second half more like a funeral," Kobelik writes. "The first 13 miles featured a mass of people, runners and cheering spectators. At the halfway point, two-thirds of the field dropped off and spectators became scarce on Normal Boulevard. It’s weird, but I missed 'the insulation' of hundreds of other runners around me."

Kobelik said he "probably" will run another maraton, but that Pesek will have to talk him into it.