Marriage may be a marathon, but the wedding?

In lieu of "I now pronounce you man and wife," did the minister fire a starter's pistol?

Rachel Pitt and Garry Keates got married in London on Sunday — but not until they ran the first 24 miles of the London Marathon and took a detour into St. Bride's Church.

Upon taking their vows, they completed the final 2.2 miles running hand-in-hand.

As Pitt, 37, a first-time marathoner, told the London Daily Mail: "There were moments when I just wanted to go home and wondered why we'd put ourselves through this. ... It's been the best day of my life, but I'll never do it again."

Out to dead center

With a Chicago cemetery unveiling a Wrigley-themed mausoleum, wrote Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press, "Can you imagine, if the Cubs ever break their current one-century slump, everybody rolling over at once?"

Best guess is it would spark the mother of all urned runs.

Heal yes

George Shurter, 54, told by doctors five years ago he could no longer run because of the bone-on-bone grinding in his left ankle, won his age group at the 28th Kingston (N.Y.) Classic 10K road race.

"Shurter cured the problem," wrote Kevin Gleason of the Middletown Times Record-Herald. "He stopped going to doctors."

Stop-and-go driving

Veteran gearheads were duly impressed when Randy Moss Motorsports scored its first NASCAR truck series win Monday, while pointing out that the team motto — "We race when we feel like it" — still needs a little work.

Writers' bloc

• Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, checking the fine print on the Rams' latest draftees: "Middle linebacker James Laurinaitis is afraid of spiders. ... Offensive tackle Jason Smith has never been to the beach — a streak he could easily extend playing in St. Louis."

• Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, on Michael Phelps unveiling his new freestyle stroke May 14: "I predict he'll come out smoking."

• Dan Daly of the Washington Times, wondering about the nickname of Missouri DT Evander "Ziggy" Hood: "It just doesn't fit the position; it's too light, too breezy. It's like nicknaming a middle linebacker Cuddles."

He's no Pirates fan

Capt. Richard Phillips, the cargo-ship captain who spent five days being held hostage by Somali pirates, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Sunday's Yankees-Red Sox game in Boston.

Guess it would've been asking a bit much to have him do it in Pittsburgh.

Sideline Chatter appears Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com