For a lot of athletes, being 'in the zone' is a good thing.  It's the right mixture of focus, determination, and confidence in the activity they're taking part in.

But sometimes you can be in the zone too much.

At last weekend's Fargo Marathon, 47-year old Dennis Lee, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was getting ready to run the 26-mile event, in the hopes of qualifying for next year's Boston Marathon.

He was near the starting line, with his headphones in, when he heard a gun go off and saw people start running - so he joined them - later telling Fargo Forum:

I saw people going to the starting line, and once I heard the gun, I took off.

I ran pretty hard to catch the pacers, but there were no pacers. And when I returned to the dome, I thought I made a wrong turn.

We was actually running the wrong race.

He mistakenly ran the 10K, which started at 7:00am, finishing the 6.2 mile event in 44 minutes and 28 seconds.  After crossing the finish line and realizing his goof, he made it back to the starting line for the marathon, which started at 8:15.

It was pretty brutal. But they say everything happens for a reason.

Lee ended up running the entire marathon, finishing the 26.2 mile event in 3 hours, 25 minutes, five minutes short of the Boston qualifying mark.

I clearly would’ve qualified had I not run the 10K.

That may be, but there is one consolation for Lee: He left Fargo with two medals, instead of just the one he planned on getting.

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