How long is 78 hours, really? It's the length of a four-day, three-night vacation. It's the ultimate all-nighter, longer than anyone should ever stay awake in one stretch. And it's enough time to rally more than 100 musicians behind one lofty, maniacal goal; enough time to form dozens upon dozens of one-off bands, all in the name of the marathon. When Mark Mallman set out to perform his longest continuous song yet, all the usual questions came up: Will he be able to stay awake? Are there medical risks involved? Is he totally insane? But what nobody anticipated was that Marathon 3 would become a binding force in the local music community, forging friendships and uniting people through the common realizations that yes, Mallman is delightfully crazy; yes, he can stay awake and perform for an entire four-day weekend; and yes, his marathon was the weirdest, most wondrous thing that happened in St. Paul last year. At one point during the marathon, Mallman jokingly announced that Marathon 4 would be coming in 2015. The thought of it all happening again over an even longer period is simultaneously horrifying and exhilarating.