About this location
A few stories people tell about this place
1. At dawn one morning, a delivery driver pulled up to Marathon with an unusual load—an old upright piano wrapped in blankets. As he unlocked the door, a regular noticed something strange: the piano began playing soft notes on its own. Curious, the regular leaned closer and realized it was playing ‘Happy Birthday’—the same tune that had been playing every time someone’s birthday rolled around in town. Turns out, the delivery driver had installed a small mechanism inside as a surprise for everyone who frequented Marathon. From then on, whenever anyone mentioned their birthday, the piano would serenade them with its own little concert.
2. At closing time, an old man approached the Marathon gas station and asked the attendant, ‘Do you remember me?’ The attendant smiled and shook his head. ‘Not really,’ he said. ‘But I’ll never forget your car!’ The attendant laughed and replied, 'Your car was here every day for twenty years! How could I forget?' The old man nodded with a twinkle in his eye, got into his ancient truck, and drove off into the night. As the last customer of the evening, he left behind not just memories but also a tank full of fuel—one final gesture from a loyal regular.
3. One day, while pumping gas at Marathon, a little boy pointed excitedly at something on the pump. ‘Mom,’ he said, ‘look, it’s talking!’ His mother just smiled and replied, ‘Honey, that’s not talking—it’s just the sound of air.’ A few minutes later, an older man approached the counter, shaking his head. ‘I saw that too,’ he whispered. The clerk grinned and shrugged, saying, “Yup, happens every now and then—must be the wind whispering secrets.”
4. At midnight, a delivery driver pulled into Marathon for a quick fill-up. The gas pump clicked off, but as he turned to leave, the speaker crackled to life: ‘Attention, sir—your truck is now officially caffeinated.’ The driver laughed and looked at his empty coffee cup. ‘Guess I’ll take it black,’ he joked, climbing back in. As he drove away, someone behind him muttered, “That’s why his truck always delivers on time.”