$500 for 5K

Okay, forget everything I said about bets being bad.

Bets, good.

My younger sister Rosina L. Hunt, Esq., a successful Rhode Island lawyer and ultracompetitive sibling like myself, has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged me to a race. In October, we are running in the Run for Bob in Franklin, Tenn., sponsored by the Hockamock YMCA.

Because she's a woman, she insisted I give her the same time differential that the Marine Corps gives women: three minutes. So if a man has to finish the race in 30 minutes, a woman has 33. To get a perfect score on the running portion of the fitness test, a man has to do three miles in 18 minutes, and a woman has to do it in 21:00. Can't argue with that. If it's okay with the Marine Corps, it's okay with me.

I've been trying to follow the Couch to 5K program at coolrunning.com. Its a three-day-a-week, walk/run program that is definitely doable. Not easy - not for me, anyway - but doable.

Weight is 261, mile time is 11:12 for one mile.

I'll keep you posted.