The Check-Up: Sarah Palin Might Be Running

Okay, so there’s no real proof of this, but the folks over at Runner’s World are postulating that former VP candidate and reality star Sarah Palin is gearing up for a marathon this fall. Here’s how they put the pieces together: She completed a half marathon in Iowa over Labor Day weekend, coming in at a super respectable 1:46:10. According to RW, no one runs a late-summer half unless they’re planning to run a full marathon in the fall—because why else would you put yourself through 13.1 miles of treacherous heat and humidity if you’re not using the race to gauge your readiness for 26.2 in a couple months? That’s rock-solid logic, I tell you.

Also? If 47-year-old Palin ends up running a full marathon at roughly the same pace as her half, she’ll clock in at around 3:30 or 3:35, according to Amby Burfoot’s calculations. That’s, uh, pretty darn fast. And as Burfoot points out, a finish like that would qualify Palin for a Boston Marathon bid, and would put her in the top 10 to 12 percent of marathoners in her age group across the country. Dang.

Get the rest of today’s health headlines—including why your brain wants you to eat junk food—over here.