Marathon Training.

There is a girl in my class who is obviously new to running. I can tell by the questions she asks and by what she wears to run in. Last night's example: cotton yoga pants and a low-cut, v-neck, cotton "fashion" t-shirt (style similar to one I might wear with nice pants in the Summer). Anyway, plenty of people in class are new to running, most are, in fact, so fine, good & dandy. She is very enthusiastic and gung ho -- great. But. I overheard her talking to the coach the other day about the NYC Marathon Lottery. As in, when she can expect to hear whether or not she's gotten in. To the Marathon. For 2004. ???!!! She is in the baby-beginner class! We've just now accomplished 10 minutes of running without a walk break. We ran like, 2 miles last night! AND. I kept passing her (and I'm not exactly burning up the road these days). I don't get it. Why the hurry to run a marathon? Shouldn't she be concentrating on some shorter distances for now? She doesn't appear to be particularly athletic or in very good shape at all, wouldn't it be smarter to gain some fitness, a running base, experience in some shorter distance races, maybe a little-bit better speed, etc. before thinking about training for 26.2? The distance is tough enough, but the training required is not to be taken lightly. Sounds like a recipe for injury and burnout, if you ask me, but who am I to rain on anyone's parade? At least she's out there taking the class, so that is a little smarter than trying to do it all on her own, I guess. I wonder if she is planning on continuing on to the next class, once this session is over?