Remember when you were a kid and you were facing off with another kid at the dodge ball pole? Your friends were cheering you on, and it energized you. It made you feel like you could win even if you'd lost every prior game to your opponent. This kind of support is important in every area of sports - including running.

When you train for a marathon, it's important to build up a support team. You need at least one other person to encourage you to prepare and finish the marathon you plan on running. This person doesn't have to be another athletic individual (although it helps). They just have to be someone that you respect and won't be afraid to be honest with you. Here's a list of folks to ask and how they can help you:

1) Your spouse can help you get up and do early morning runs and eat healthy.
2) Your best friend can run with you on a few days (or ride a bike) and make training more fun.
3) Your favorite sport's store clerk can give you advice on what kind of clothing and shoes to wear while training and running for the marathon.
4) Your doctor can give you a check up at the beginning of your training to make sure you're in good enough health to run a marathon.
5) Your personal trainer can help you plot out how many miles you should run a day in order to build up to the marathon.
6) You can help yourself stay encouraged to run by getting enough sleep and staying positive.

As you see, there are many ways people can support you in a marathon. In order to improve your chances of actually applying for, starting and finishing one, it is in your best interest to unite them all together. You'll see that success will be much sweeter in the company of your friends.