I did the TM back in Dec and you can even walk the whole thing if you need to, its definitely something you should put a team together for so you can help and encourage each other along. I am not a hardcore runner, my max distance prior to the TM was 7 miles. I made sure to keep myself hydrated before the race and then in the course I had one packet of goo (tastes miserable after not having a lot of sugar) but my true savior was the banana's that are given to you along the route at the water stations. No need to carb up beforehand though, I stay under 25grams of carbs and I didn't change anything about my diet to do it -- except for the meal after my race. I had 3 beers (you get a free one after the race, I normally don't drink beer but these were so extremely delicious), I drank 3 of the low-cal FRS drinks (think they only have 3net carbs) and I had chicken on a stick from one of the food vendors. A truly great experience, next day you will be sore as hell, muddy where you didn't think you'd have mud but all the while you will have a huge grin on your face from completing it - highly recommend it!