The first annual Nick’s Marathon event is officially over, and I am calling the weekend a rousing success.  Things didn’t go exactly as planned – we ended up beating only two games throughout the event (I don’t remember Contra 3 being so impossible!) – but a good time was had by all, and we raised over $2500 (so far) for three great charities. I ate a lot of pizza, cookies, peeps, and popems – the four main food groups – and drank a lot of light beer and diet soda, which sort of balances out the junk food.  James and I got a little bit more sleep than we anticipated, but even between naps we surprised ourselves with our second, third, fourth, and fifth winds.  After going to bed early last night, I’m not nearly as wiped as I thought I’d be today.

There were some technical glitches, and we should have hammered out a firmer schedule with people lined up to play specific games so that sleep was more of a part of the calendar, but those are things that can be fixed for next year.  Yes, we’re thinking of making this a yearly thing, so get used to me hitting everyone up for donations on a regular basis.  As James put it, we were able to raise so much money for good causes and have fun doing it – how can we NOT do it again?

Forgive me but I feel the need to go all “awards show” for a minute and thank a few specific people who made the weekend extra special:

First, I have to say thank you to Courtney.  Seriously, there aren’t many wives who would be willing to not only stand by while their husband decides to play video games for an entire weekend, but who would also support the gesture every step of the way.  Courtney went above and beyond by cooking food for us, going on bagel runs,  and even taking the controller a few times.  I’m one hell of a lucky guy.

Dominic Monfre, thanks for designing the t-shirts; they really and truly came out absolutely amazing.  For anyone who is waiting for their shirt, fear not, they will all get sent out in due time.

Aaron Neuman and Andy Manoff, thank you guys for coming by for nice long gaming stretches Saturday afternoon and the Saturday night/Sunday morning respectively.   Seriously, I really needed the sleep break, and you guys pitching in for long hauls made a huge difference there.

Kari Thompson, thank you for the super delicious and thoughtful homemade treats you sent over.  Kari made Zelda-specific lemon triangles, and River City Ransom-specific chocolate chip cookies, both of which were delicious.  And the card that was included with the goodies was also incredibly sweet.

James Brief, thanks for all of the technical work you did on making this thing happen.  Setting up the website, getting the video stream going, fixing the countless audio problems, and allowing us to turn your apartment into a nerd paradise for a weekend was a lot, and you were happy to do it all.

And of course, thanks to everyone who donated!

I know that somewhere Nick was smiling down on us, even if he was a little embarrassed about how terrible we were playing video games in his name.  More than once it occurred to me that if he was playing with us, we would have torn through many more games in far less time, as he was a much better gamer than any of the rest of us.   But we ended the marathon by finally beating Donkey Kong Country 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV, and then playing a little multiplayer Super Bomberman.  That’s not a co-op game, but its one that I’ll always associate with playing at Nick’s house for hours on end.  In the end, I think it’s safe to say that good times were had by all, and I think we were able to give a great friend a nice tribute.