As to all the Iron Man stuff, I don't do it. My best (yes, best) time running the Boston Marathon is 6:02:41. It was my dream to break 6 hours but it's highly unlikely that I ever will. I gave myself a stress fracture running it in 2017 and I haven't gotten any younger since then. However, since I last ran, I have become good friends with a woman who lives in Hopkinton and will let me stay at her house the night before the marathon. I'm thinking I might need to give it one more go now that I can stay overnight in Hopkinton, roll out of bed, and run 26 miles. I'll walk the last .2.
For those of you who have not been following my marathon career - I do Galloway Method. Run/walk at regular intervals. It does put less wear and tear on my knees (although I still have to baby them). I have carried over the run/walk mentality to 5ks. For anything over a 10k, I run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute. For the short distances, I run 3 1/2 minutes, walk 1 1/2 minutes. It's not a winning strategy, but my goal isn't winning, it's finishing upright and smiling. Or by doing a cartwheel over the finish line.