Hi. I’m Bill Corbett, aka Marathon Mouth. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and have more than 35 years experience (has it really been that long?) as a journalist, freelance writer and editor.
I’ve written four books, including the best-selling Day Trips From Calgary (Whitecap Books), the award-winning (Banff Mountain Book Festival) 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies (a climbing guide and history of the highest peaks in said Rockies; new edition in 2016) and Marathon Mouth, an ebook that emerged from this blog.
I love exploring, whether it’s the badlands of southern Alberta, the mountain peaks and backcountry ski slopes of my backyard Rockies or the great desert landscapes of the U.S. Southwest. This blog thus marries my passion for road trips and great food along the way.
Marathon Mouth 
Hey Bill, I will be following you. Di
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Wonderful portrait of you. Who is the artiste?
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Hi Doug:
The artist is Leslie Bell, a talented friend.
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Great fun, and a great blog idea! I’ll look forward to more postings.
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Hey Bill, I have never read a blog from start to finish in my life, until now! Great read buddy! As a pretty plain Jane eater I was not as impressed with the food as much as your talented writing style. Maybe you can take over my blog? You know, the one that started off strong and now stopped….
Great job! I will be following for sure.
When is our next run? We have not gone out since you decided that clogging your arteries was a your new sport 🙂
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Bill,
You’ve been to Mollie’s in Snowville also!
More later,
Jim
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Hi Bill. I am looking forward to reading all about your travels . We are having fun in Loreto Mexico with M and G.
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Thanks, JR. I’m about to enter Utah. Good thing it’s not a Sunday… from a restaurant perspective.
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Hey Bill, great field of work, glad you’re the guy gittin-er-dun. Have to share 20 years of research with you over a beer, here. Our study? A search for the best berry pies in the northwest. Someone has to do this work, and Jane and I are willing. As usual, research is under-funded some years, so we’re skunked for data on occasion.
I road-tripped last Feb-March, long loopy trip to Jackson WY. If perchance you wend-thru Dillon MT, watch for the Mex-raunt set up in a school-bus. Shine up your Spanish with the gal takin yer order. HobNob on Higgins (Missoula) — lunched there with a buddy and felt generous picking up the tab of $14. You’ve likely figured out that small-ish college towns tend to have light prices, and, look closely, some great food. Yaw cmon up our way eh!
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Thanks, Patrick. Would be good to have a pie researcher as I have to watch my sugar intake. I have enjoyed a meal at the Mexican truck in Dillon. Currently working my way down the US west coast.
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Hey Bill, ben meaning to get this off to you….
Regarding the 20 years of berry/fruit pie research in the PacificNorthwest… here are the criteria analyzed. The criteria are lined up in a column on the left. Each criterion is rated from 1 to 10. Survey results are tallied in a tabular format (that won’t fly on this blog) and each pie is rated for *Pie Alone* and Total Pie Effect*.
*Pie Alone* (seven on-the-plate factors): Colour/ colour (exterior, interior); Texture (exterior, interior); Tartness; Freshness; Overall taste.
*Total Pie Effect* includes the above criteria plus seven environmental influences: Highway visual appeal; Access/ egress; Server; Human diversity in restaurant; Restaurant server’s pride-in-pie; Washroom(s); Special effects (a wildcard criterion, your choice).
If you want ala mode, ensure the ice cream is served on a separate dish; as it melts, ice cream can pollute the tester’s experience of the bottom crust (a very sensitive area for analysis).
The following variables (checked during 1993 beta testing) appeared to have little effect on the Total pie experience and were therefor removed from the rating matrix: number of calendars in the cafe; pie temperature; plate; flatware; ice cream; coffee.
DO NOT have the server nuke the pie serving in the microwave.
DO NOT share a piece of pie with a fellow traveller/ pie-rater. If one shares, the ratings can be biased because each person is anxious while trying to get his/ her 60% of the piece (and thus not focussed on the research task at fork).
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Excellent criteria but time to name names.
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Love your blog
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Thanks kindly.
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Hey Bill, Jane and I are headed for south-central UT in April-May. We’ll be in Escalante, Boulder, Torrey, etc. Maybe we’ll include Caineville too. Thanks for the tips on eats.
Interesting note about southern UT – There’s a town named Henrieville, and another tagged Hanksville which is located near the Henry Mountains (a.k.a., the Henrys). This guy named Henry (or Hank) must have been a very memorable dude.
You’ve been doing some admirable work as a foodie-roadie scribe — seems you’re just the right guy to do it. P and J
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I’ll be floating down the Green River in late April. Maybe we’ll run into you guys.
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Bill, one suggestion – check out Sought and Found on Centre Street North at 9th Avenue – small startup roastery that you might enjoy. If you decide to check it out, let me know and I’ll join you – I work nearby.
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