Hah, that's great! The guy's a legend in Ireland.
There's also a group called Marathon Maniacs (
http://www.marathonmaniacs.com). Its for people with a true marathon problem. I know people who run just to get their names on that website. They're nuts, but at least they're up front about it.
If you like that, read "Ultramarathon Man" by Dean Karnases (sp?). It is absolutely hilarious and a great read. It's what inspired me to go for the marathon. Every day I wanted to punk out of training I'd thing "what would dean do?"...and the answer was strip to his underpants and take off running, but I digress...