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• Lodi facing key vote on Wal-Mart Supercenter

• Maria Elena Serna's lawyer says charge is a technicality

• Galt board member apologizes for e-mail endorsing candidates

• Critic, fee fighter Bryan Pilkington sworn in to North San Joaquin Water Conservation board

• Pilkington named Tax Fighter of Year by Howard Jarvis

• Regional Roundup

• Two Lodi Unified schools among best in nation

• Correction

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (170)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (73)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (50)
• Public health care is a Christian option (50)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (22)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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A marathon journey longer than 26.2 miles

Once upon a time, a marathon seemed like an absurdly long distance to run — something only certifiably insane people would attempt.

Perhaps I am certifiable.

Or maybe 26.2 miles really can be run by average people who just don't know what they're capable of doing.

At any rate, when most Lodi residents were sound asleep in their warm beds Sunday morning, 14 of their fellow citizens were waking up in a Tucson hotel.

These nutty people were eating oatmeal, bananas and peanut butter on bagels.

They were drinking water and sports drinks.

They were using portable toilets, unless they didn't want to wait in line: A certain Lodi High track coach would return to the group and announce, to the amusement of all, "Never pee near a cactus."

These crazy people were awaiting the start of the 2008 Tucson Marathon.

And I was one of them.

More than four hours later, I would run through the finishing chute and see some of those Lodi people cheering for me. I would pass beneath the time clock with just one thought on my slightly delirious mind: "The doctors were wrong. I did it."

Against all odds, I had run a marathon. It had to be real, since an announcer said, "Layla Bohm, of Lodi, California!"

The journey had begun many years earlier.

When my childhood doctors said my flat feet would limit my abilities in running-related areas, I never questioned them. My attempts at playing volleyball were thwarted by both my less-than-stellar skills and the challenge of finding rides to practice, so that didn't help my confidence.

Somewhere in my childhood, I did learn that it was fun to get a running start and leap over bushes. (Growing up in very rural Northern California, I had plenty of bushes to choose from.) At one point I did try running on a golf course on a summer evening. I was nearly sprayed by a skunk, so that was the end of such endeavors.

Fast-forward many years, and I was trying to rehabilitate a blown knee, and I had once again not gotten much help from doctors. I was using a stationary bicycle at the gym when the treadmills began to interest me. I had been limping for so long but now I had a challenge: Run on the treadmill without pain.

As my knee improved and I strengthened my muscles on various pieces of exercise equipment, the treadmills didn't go away.

Finally one day I shyly stepped on a treadmill and walked a short distance. My knee didn't object.

I gradually added a little more time on the treadmill, watching in jubilation as the distances crept up and my knee remained strong.

One day I jogged briefly. I did it again the next day. Before I knew it, I was running.

And then one day I ran outside. I loved it.

I entered my first 5,000 (3.1 miles) road race, determined to post a decent time.

More than a year later I was still beating my own times but decided to aim for a longer race. With a 10,000 (6.2 miles) race under my belt, I realized onger distances really were possible.

Along came the Lodi Running Club, which I joined in January to train for the Avenue of the Vines half-marathon (13.1 miles) in Woodbridge.

After writing about that accomplishment in May, I heard from other people who also had flat feet and didn't think they could run. One woman understood exactly how different our feet are - when we get out of a swimming pool and walk on the concrete, it looks like a duck is in the area.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Two weeks after conquering the half-marathon, an injury took me out of the running habit.

The apparent stress fracture in my foot sidelined me for nine agonizing weeks. For the first two weeks I was a mental wreck, and it was then that I realized how much I had come to love running.

I finally returned to the roads and the running club with a new appreciation of the fact that I could run. When it was 90 degrees at the start of a run, I no longer whined as much because the alternative to running was so much worse.

My fellow runners encouraged me to resume my goal of running a second half-marathon. Two months later, I did it and beat my previous time.

November found me running the Clarksburg 20-mile race, cheered on by my club members wearing neon green shirts.

Every Saturday morning found us out on the roads before sunrise, embarking on long runs filled with good conversation and amazing people. Yes, they said, I really could run a marathon.

So I splurged on hotel fees, marathon registration and a plane ticket to Tucson.

The weekend was filled with unending inside jokes, entertaining stories and amazing views of the Arizona desert.

Saturday night found me waking to a not-so-great dream that I was the last one in the marathon and police were picking up the traffic barricades behind me. By 2 a.m. Sunday I was looking at the clock every 15 minutes, willing the hours to pass.

The race finally started at 7:30 a.m., and before long the miles were adding up.

I passed the 22-mile marker and entered the "longest I've ever run" stage. The 23rd mile seemed to take a long time, and my muscles really couldn't believe the run wasn't done after the 24th mile.

Never, through the whole race, did I think I would fail. It wasn't an option, because I was out to prove the world wrong. That determination carried me through the entire marathon.

After 26 miles of running, the body is very tired and the brain isn't able to process much. My brain had just two thoughts left. One was the thrill of seeing my fellow running club members who had encouraged me every step along my journey to the marathon.

The other thought consisted of those three words intended for the long-agodoctors who inspected my flat feet: "They were wrong."

And I have the cactus-shaped marathon medal to prove it.