Code:
#include "stdafx.h"
#include <Windows.h>

DWORD WINAPI test_thread(LPVOID Param)
{
    MessageBox(NULL,"test_thread started ","",0);

    for(int i = 0; i < 99999999999; i++)
    {

    }
    //i would like to work out how many seconds that loop ran for

    MessageBox(NULL,"test_thread over","",0);

    return 0;
}

int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
    HANDLE test_thread_handle = CreateThread(NULL,0,(LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)test_thread,NULL,NULL,NULL);
    WaitForSingleObject(test_thread_handle,INFINITE);
    return 0;
}