Now that you've feasted and gorged this Thanksgiving weekend and are staring down the official start of year-end holiday parties, you might be ripe for a serving of fitness motivation.

And organizers of the Missoula Marathon have come to the rescue.

At their invitation, Bart Yasso, one of America's best-known runners - a guy known far and wide, in fact, as the "Mayor of Running" - is coming to town this week.

He's the man behind the marathon training schedule called the Yasso 800s, upon which thousands of people around the world rely. Inducted into the Running USA Hall of Champions, Yasso is one of the few people to have completed races on all seven continents, from the Antarctica Marathon to the Mount Kilimanjaro Marathon.

In 1987, Yasso won the U.S. National Biathlon Long Course Championship and won the Smoky Mountain Marathon in 1998. He has also completed the Ironman five times and the Badwater 146 through Death Valley.

Yasso said he's got lots of stories to share and he's eager to fire up Missoula's runners.

"I want to get people excited about this great marathon in Missoula and get people excited about the sport of running," Yasso said in a recent phone interview.

So he'll offer practical advice on how to become a runner for life and continually draw joy from the sport. He'll also offer practical guidance for beginners, intermediate and advanced runners - and on 5-K, half-marathon and marathon training schedules.

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At 54, Yasso, said he was a pretty good runner in his day, maybe winning a few local races, but he was never an Olympics trial qualifier or a standout athlete.

His experience, though, is proof that any average person can go far in the sport and that running can be life-changing.

Yasso explained he began running one day - jogging a mile - because he wanted to be more fit. One mile led to the next and then ... he became one of the most recognized names in the sport.

"I literally went out to get in shape, not to race," he said. "I never dreamt of being in a marathon, but it's changed my life forever.

"If I didn't start running that day long ago, I wouldn't have experienced all the cultures I've been fortunate enough to experience and all the exotic locations it's taken me. You can have a lot of fun with this sport and see the world, and running has been that conduit."

As part of his talk in Missoula on Wednesday night (at 7 p.m. in the DoubleTree Hotel), Yasso will present some "really cool photos" from unusual races in unusual places. The show- and-tell will be less about him, and more about the amazing opportunities connected to running.

It's a particularly fun time to be touring the country to talk about running, he said, because the sport is flourishing right now.

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Yasso believes the recession is playing a big part in the sport's popularity.

"Running stores are having banner years, and that's not happening in other industries," he said. "It's hot, and I think what helps is the simplicity of it all. You don't need a lot - just a good pair of running shoes and you can go anywhere."

Women are flocking to the sport in record numbers as well, helping to drive running's popularity.

"I think they really like this sport because of the social aspect," Yasso said. "It's not all about the training and running fast. There's a big social aspect.

"One of the reasons women like marathon running is the big training groups, and that there are a lot of charity groups like Team in Training that raise money for charity, which give people a greater cause to run."

For Yasso, running's allure boils down to this: "It makes the human condition more tolerable," he said.

"It's just beautiful to be outside and in motion," he said. "Sure it has all kinds of health benefits and provides stress relief, but it gets my mind flowing, it taps into my creativity, and when I'm out there running, it creates dreams.

"I tend to run alone, and it helps me think and sort things out. It gives me quality time with myself, which is really hard to come by when in today's world everyone has a cell phone and computer."

After 22 years with Runner's World magazine, and after years of cheerleading, coaching and inspiring runners around the world, Yasso said he's learned one thing for sure.

"Everyone can be a runner, even a marathon runner," he said. "You put your mind to something, work at it - you can get it done.

"And it can change your life."

Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at bcohen@missoulian.com.