Thanks for the serious response. I am interested in hearing other thoughts about this.
I don't suggest running 26 miles everyday. I would suggest no more than a marathon distance every two weeks once the athlete has built up to that distance. The week following a training run of marathon distance or longer would need to be a recovery week with shorter/slower distances. The marathon would count into that week's mpw. A marathon is a low glycogen state race and someone who wants to be competitive needs to train the body to run through that state. The last 6 miles of the marathon is 50% of the race both mentally and physically. Getting to 20 miles isn't that big of a deal. Gutting out that last 6 miles is the hardest part.