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The Biggest Loser Marathon

Posted by Trish Milburn Dec 7 2011, 12:01 am in The Biggest Loser, Trish Milburn

Most of us can’t even fathom running a marathon, let alone people who were morbidly obese mere months ago. But that’s exactly what the contestants on The Biggest Loser did in last night’s episode. But before they got to that, we saw the the final four (Vinny, Antone, Becky and John) at home with their families. And the trainers went to the four hometowns to visit and train with the foursome.

I missed the first 18 minutes of the episode because my TiVo was picking up something that was having a special Christmas episode, something higher on my season pass list. So I came in when Antone was talking about his journey. He is mixing family time with gym workouts by taking his wife and four children to the gym. He even bench pressed his four kids.

Next up was Vinny confronting (and forgiving) his mother for allowing him and his siblings to be abused by their stepfather when they were children. She had no easy answers for why other than she had no self-esteem. I got the feeling that she, and the rest of the family, might benefit from some counseling.

When Dolvett visited John at home, he noticed a lack of balance. John, who is fiercely competitive to a fault, was allowing his wife to cook, do the laundry, sounded like everything so he could focus solely on preparing for the finals. He hadn’t gone back to work either. When Dolvett expressed his concern that John wasn’t learning to balance real life with working out, and that he might gain back all the weight after the finale, John didn’t seem to receptive to this concern. He’s so focused on winning the show that I think he might be losing sight of the real prize here, winning his life back for the long term. But we’ll see. It was a touching moment when they showed John’s parents crying as they watched his video of his time on the ranch, and that his wife, Jill, said it inspired her.

Becky was the only one of the four who had gone back to work, and Bob surprised her in her math classroom.

Now on to the marathon. Not only was a spot in the finals on the line, but also some big money prizes sponsored by Walgreen’s for the first five finishers. Walgreen’s is also sponsoring a Walk with Walgreen’s fitness program with prizes such as coupons for Walgreen’s products.

Bonnie sat out the marathon since she was having knee surgery the following week, and Dr. Huizenga pulled Vinny at Mile 20 and Joe at Mile 21 when he felt they were doing too much damage to their joints. Everyone else finished, with about 5 1/2-hour spread between first and last places. Earning a spot in the finals and $25,000 was Ramon (yay!). Close behind was Courtney ($10,000 prize), John ($7,500), Jessica ($5,000) and Patrick ($2,500). The rest of the field finished in this order: Sunny, Jennifer (remember, she was on crutches on the show), Becky, Antone (I could tell Becky and Antone had become really good friends as they came across the line together, holding hands), Coach Mike, Johnny and Debbie.

On to the weigh-in! With Ramon watching, the final four on the ranch weighed in to find out which two would be joining Ramon in the finals. Becky was up first and lost 10 pounds (5.81%). Vinny lost 28 (8.92%). John lost 29 (9.8%), guaranteeing himself a spot in the finals. It came down to Antone, who lost 30 pounds (9.29%), earning that last spot in the finals. John threw down the gauntlet, letting it be known he wanted to win the whole show. I had to chuckle a little bit when Antone said (in one of those personal interviews later), “I’m sick of John to tell you the truth.” That seemed to be the universal feeling. I can understand being confident and going after a goal, but it’s my personal feeling that you don’t burn friendship bridges along the way as you do it.

Next week is the live finale, but I won’t be able to post the recap on Wednesday since I’ll have family visiting early for Christmas. But watch for it hopefully later in the week. Then we’ll be on a Biggest Loser break until sometime early in the new year.

What were your impressions and takeaways from last night’s episode?

9 Comments

Comments

9 Responses to “The Biggest Loser Marathon”

Sally Kilpatrick says:

December 7, 2011 at 7:48 am

The idea of running a marathon fascinates me, but I did well to make 2 miles yesterday. I think the best I’ve ever done is 4!

I’m so happy the math teacher was the one to go back to work. Balancing exercise/diet with teaching was nigh upon impossible for me.

Reply
- Trish Milburn says:
  
  December 7, 2011 at 9:13 am
  
  I’d be lucky to be able to run to the end of my street, but I wonder if I could eventually walk a marathon. I’d have to build up to it.
  
  Reply
Christy says:

December 7, 2011 at 10:00 am

I like that the eliminated players got a chance at the final three. Ramon earned it with his impressive lead. Do you remember Tara’s time? Did Ramon beat her time? Do you have any predictions who will win the at home prize?

Reply
- Michelle Butler says:
  
  December 7, 2011 at 3:51 pm
  
  I’m pretty sure that Tara made it in the 4 -5 hour range instead of 5+. I remember them making a very big deal about her record when the season with the Asian woman who had had 2 brothers die young and her lovely parents told her she should have been the one to die and had a shot of breaking that record. I don’t think she did in the end.
  
  Reply
  - Trish Milburn says:
    
    December 8, 2011 at 12:12 am
    
    I don’t know what Tara’s time was as I didn’t hear it mentioned and I didn’t watch that season. Oh, Ada, I did love her that season. I hope she’s doing well.
    
    Reply
Michelle Butler says:

December 7, 2011 at 3:48 pm

I always find the marathon episode so inspiring and moving! It’s also so fun to see how differently everyone looks now.

I think John tended to annoy or even anger his teammates, so last night’s developments with him were not surprising. I’ve always liked Antone a lot, but I’m assuming he’s already pretty financially set as a former NFL player. I could be wrong. I think the $ would make the most difference to Ramone.

I am sorry that a woman didn’t make it to the final 3. I really was rooting for Becky – especially since I always thought she was the most shortchanged by the original 3 teams. I also was rooting for Courtney to win the marathon.

Reply
- Trish Milburn says:
  
  December 8, 2011 at 12:13 am
  
  I really like Becky, so I was rooting for her too. I was rooting for Vinny too because he just seems so nice and his story touched me. I love that he proposed to his girlfriend on the Opry stage.
  
  Reply
  - Michelle Butler says:
    
    December 8, 2011 at 9:24 am
    
    I think some family therapy may help Vinny, his brother, his mom, and others… The Opry stage moment was very special.
    
    Reply
    - Diane Gaston says:
      
      December 9, 2011 at 6:35 pm
      
      I like that Ramon made it in. He looks so much better with his hair cut! (I’m sounding like an old fogey )
      
      I think the final three are exactly who should be in the finals. I worry about John, who is taking this much too seriously.
      
      Vinny’s family is very troubled. He is so lucky to have had this opportunity to see life in a different way, to take control of his life instead of letting abusers or food control him
      
      Reply

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