Steve and the Tank! - Columbus Craig's 20 Answers

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

We met Craig Wanner on the Antarctica Marathon trip in February 2005. Craig and his wife Kathy have been happily married for 30 years and reside in Columbus, Ohio. Kathy was also on the Antarctica Marathon trip and she is a very nice lady. Craig and Kathy have two beautiful daughters that the Tank recently met during the NYC Half Marathon weekend in late August. Craig served our country for four years in the US Navy and has an MBA from Xavier University.

Craig's main hobby is running. He started running in 1983 and has run at least one marathon every year since, an impressive 24 year streak. He has run a marathon in every state and now working on Seven Continents. He started with continents ending in the letter "a" and working his way through the alphabet and only has Africa, Australia, and Europe to go. He has completed 63 marathons and thankfully has zero Did Not Finish (DNFs), touch wood. He also runs marathons in very good times breaking the four hour mark.

Hi Craig,

How are you? Well, I hope.

Thank you very much for agreeing to do the "Steve and The Tank" Interview.

1. How did you get started in running? Had back surgery and realized my career as a professional bull rider was drawing to a close.

2. Why do you run? Admit it you just don't have much else to do. I’ve been running so long I can’t remember. It’s like asking why I breathe.

3. I assume your friends are like mine, they can't even name the 50 states. It obviously was not for bragging rights, so why did you run a marathon in all 50 states? On all 7 continents? I was the most ignorant person I knew when it came to Geography…. One of the downfalls that comes from running with grade school teachers. Also it works better for getting out of the house without the mate. That gives at least fifty excuses to get out of town with the guys.

4. The Tank looks like a Tank when he runs he is so banged up from running too much. Do you have any knee issues, etc? No real joint issues to speak of. Been very lucky in that respect. Clean living I guess.

5. Ever run a marathon with an injury? I’ve run marathons with a pain in the ass, but I just pretend to have to pee and let them get ahead so I don’t have to listen to them anymore.

6. Best state to run a marathon in? California (see answer to question 9).

7. Worst state to run a marathon in? A drunken state.

8. Favorite marathon story? 18 miles in to Big Sur there was a shapely, beautiful blonde (girl) writhing on the ground. I thought she was shedding clothes due to the heat. She stripped down to nothing but her running shoes, put her bib number in her teeth and posed for a picture with arms and legs spread out. I had a tough time finishing the race after that due to a severe relocation of blood.

9. Congratulations on finishing a marathon in all 50 States and 7 Continents. How long did it take you to finish both? I haven’t finished the seven continents yet (3 to go) It took me twenty years to do the fifty states. I plan on seven years for the continents. One a year should give me time to enjoy them more.

10. What possessed you to do it? I’m still trying to figure that out.

11. What is the strangest thing that was ever confiscated from you in Customs? Strangest travel story? The only thing I’ve ever had regarding a customs agent was coming back from the Toronto Marathon. The agent asked if I’d been in Canada on business or pleasure and I said neither. When I told him I was there for the marathon he said he guessed I was right and let me pass.

12. I think you did some hiking of the Grand Canyon last year with our fellow Antarcticamaniac Eric Stover. What was that like? We’ve been hiking the canyon for over ten years. It is one of the most fantastic hikes you can do for endurance and a good butt whipping. As with most of the Antarctica bunch, it is always great to see them.

13. You had a chance to spend some time with your wife Kathy and two daughters during the NYC Half Marathon weekend. What was the social and running experience like? What was most memorable? Had a fantastic time. Went to shows, ate at delis, went to Chinatown. Running was strange. Heading south along the river to Battery Park I kept trying to imagine the Towers still there. Having only seen them a couple times on prior trips I don’t know how locals can take it. That was the visual version of silence being deafening.

14. What's next? Any other destination marathons you want to run? Next continent will be Victoria Falls, Africa.

15. As you passed me after I injured my back in the Fin Del Mundo Marathon in Ushuaia, Argentina, you said there is a beer waiting at the finish line. We knew you had to be hurting the way you were walking. You were only a mile or two from the finish and we knew you’d tough it out. We do this for the pain and boy do we get our money’s worth.

16. What is your favorite beer? My quick answer is “any” …actually given the choice I go for Bass or Harp’s. I have been know to drink warm, flat light beer. I have yet to get to the point of drinking spilled beer out of an ashtray so I guess there’s still hope.

(Instead of beer, I asked for a chiropractor and got some codeine or an equivalent prescription drug from a runner from the other boat but I still had sharp back pain through the night and on the way home the next day.).

17. Being that you live in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Yankees AAA affiliate (changed since question was posed), what players have you seen come through there over the years? Have you had a chance to meet any of them? Besides running, what other sports do you follow? Ohio State Buckeyes football? Well, since this writing I’m sure you know Columbus is no longer the Yankees affiliate. We got canned and now are the Nationals affiliate. We’ve seen Strawberry. Buckeye football rules the fall in Columbus. We do have the NHL Bluejackets now and get to see your Rangers, Islanders, and the Devils. I’ve had season tickets since the opening year.

18. Outside of running, you are an entrepreneur if memory serves. How did you start Wanner Metalworx? Congratulations on the OSU stadium project. (BTW, the Buckeyes are The Tank's pre-season college football #1 pick) You could call me an entrepreneur but the fact is that I just couldn’t work for anyone else. My travel and vacations would be hard for someone else to put up with. My secret is to hire people smarter than me and get out of their way so they can do their jobs. Few people object to a boss who doesn’t micro-manage them.

19. During the Antarctica trip, you were (in)famous for your knowledge of Monty Python. What is your favorite Monty Python movie? Quote? By far, my favorite movie was the Holy Grail. It is so full of quotes that I can’t really pick one. Spank me next, I only want to sing, merely a flesh wound, what is your quest, trivia:

a. The four capitals of Assyria are located in what is currently Iraq.

b. Funds earned by Pink Floyd’s album "The Dark Side of the Moon" went towards funding The Holy Grail. The band were such fans of the show they would halt recording sessions just to watch Monty Pythons Flying Circus.

Factual errors: When they are in the cave and reading the message in Aramaic their heads move from left to right. When reading Aramaic your head moves from right to left.

20. Steve is being stalked by supermodel and X-Men movie star Famke Jenssen as well as hot Turkish singers. Anyone stalking you? Sometimes it seems like the IRS is.

Steve's Bonus Question: Any cute SINGLE daughters or nieces to set The Tank up with? I tried and Julia Stiles does not return my emails. Seems like the Tank would intimidate mere mortal women with his knowledge of sports, music, religion, and life. I think if the Tank is looking for equals he should travel to places like Mount Olympus and hope for women of mythical proportions.

Thank you very much for your time. See you on the roads.

Sincerely,

Steve and The Tank

P.S. The photo below is Columbus Craig and the Tank drinking beer and orange juice, respectively, in the Ushuaia, Argentina, airport enroute home on, March 7, 2005, or so they thought. After running the Antarctica Marathon on February 26, 2005, and the Fin Del Mundo Marathon on March 6, 2005, little did Columbus Craig, the Tank, and the rest of the Gang were beginning of their third, unscheduled, and hardest marathon of the trip. The long road home started on March 7, 2005, and got longer through a long layover in Buenos Aires, weather delays to Atlanta, and finally home.

After being bumped off at least four flights from Atlanta to New York (including first class with NH Diane) on March 8, 2005, the Tank offered to take the Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith look-a-like pilot up on his offer to fly the plane to Hawaii because none were going to the Northeast. The Tank flawlessly slipped into one of his characters (my pscychologist doesn't like me to call them "personalities") Murdock in his patented crazy role from the "A-Team". (Like Murdock, the Tank knows how to fly a helicopter as he took a helicopter lesson with BayRidge Bob, Howard, and one of Howard's friends in August 2002 near Princeton, New Jersey.) The Tank quickly recruited "Face" and "B.A. Baracus" look-a-likes to round out the crew. Atlanta Homeland Security did not bother arresting the Tank because they know he is a loveable lunatic and a non-terrorist in the need of sleep, shower, and a soulmate. After a few hours, the Tank finally got an Atlanta hotel room and got the shower and sleep he desperately needed. He didn't care that he landed the next evening on March 9, 2005, in LaGuardia and his luggage landed in JFK because his back hurt too much from the second marathon in eight days and didn't want to schlep it anyway. Soulmate still pending. Keep checking back for more on the Tank and his love, running, and sports adventures.

Posted by Steve and The Tank in NY.

Interviews | Running

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 2:23:55 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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