Why do all girls in their 20's train for half marathons?

I met someone last week who, when asked about how she was in such good shape, replied, "I'm training for a half marathon." I immediately had deja-deja-deja vu...how many times in the last few months have I met a girl who said she was training for a half marathon? The answer is simple: too many. There's no way all of these girls have the patience/time/motivation to go through with it. And if they can finish the race, why not a full marathon?

I had to investigate.

In a recently conducted poll of the Global Strategy Group/StreetEasy office, five women in their low to mid-20's admitted to all having said they have trained for a half marathon, versus only one respondent saying she had never made such claims. Their answers were diverse, though, as to why they trained (4 and 5 were my personal favorites).

Subject 1: I've always wanted to because I like to run, but haven't raced yet.
Subject 2: I used to train, but never ended up doing the race.
Subject 3: I trained on and off for a long time, just haven't gone through with it yet.
Subject 4: I trained for a marathon but never ran it BECAUSE I GOT HIT BY A CAR!
Subject 5: My friends and I decided we would tell guys we were training for a marathon because it would make us look athletic and impress them. Then we decided that a half marathon was more believable, so we stuck with that.

Not sure if subject #5 is the norm, but I wouldn't be surprised. Now, I wonder, what's so impressive about this feat that EVERYONE is jumping on board? Here's my theory:

1. Girls love to run on treadmills or ellipticals. If you run on a treadmill, the distance you think you can run is inflated because there aren't variables to slow you down or cars to hit you (like poor Subject #4 had to deal with), and you can do shit like I do where I jump a bit so I'm soaring through the air rather than actually running.

2. If you can run 3 miles on a treadmill, why wouldn't you convince yourself you could run more than 13? It's sort of like eating chicken wings. If you can eat 10, why couldn't you eat 50 if you were hungry enough?

3. Girls love goals and resolutions. On NYE I made one resolution--that by 2012 I'd be able to do a standing backflip like some football players do when they celebrate TD's. It may be lofty, but at least I have another year to talk about doing it. Girls love resolutions like "run a half marathon" because it fulfills their need for a resolution but sounds achievable.

4. Girls who run get to wear Lululemon pants. Girls look great in Lululemon pants. I am not opposed to this aspect of the sport.

5.  Guys like hearing that girls are driven, or at least girls think guys like hearing that girls are driven. It shows dedication to something. People love dedication, or at least the promise of potential dedication (see: subject's #2 and #3).

All in all, I learned a lot from this survey, but I've decided that it's not a bad thing at all. People training for half marathons KNOW they need to train outside to get a real feel for it, and that promotes outdoor activity which I'm a fan of. Run your hearts out ladies. Personally, I'd suggest rollerblading a half marathon. It's much easier and people will think you're super cool.