Mr. McClelland presumes that all the marathon efforts of feel-good amateurs are febrile, futile and an embarrassing waste of time. Worse, these overweight, inadequate, wannabe-slouches have caused the collapse of America's competitive running spirit.

Wow. Amazing jump in logic, Sherlock. To conclude that marathon times are going down because of the influence of amateur runners is a joke. Then again, simplifying makes it easier to pump out a condescending story that's really about Mr. McClelland's personal running prowess - about to be on the re-bound, despite bad knees.

I imagine there are some truly amazing stories behind many of the snail pace finishes by those feel-good amateurs the author looks down on.

For one, I have a friend who was in a coma for a month after a motorcycle accident. He wasn't expected to be more than a veg for his remaining days. One year later, he finished The Bass Lake Smokey Bear Six-mile Run dead last at, at best, a slow limp. And he's still entering races and improving. He inspired me to get with it.

So, personally, here it is: I'm 59 and will run my first marathon in Las Vegas, December 2. I've got only half a functioning hamstring on my left leg so it drags a bit and limits me to a gimpy lope. I only run 35 miles a week, yet training has shed 30 pounds and has dropped my resting heart rate 30 points from 85 to 55. I use a heart monitor and don't run faster than 138 beats a minute - no matter how competitive I feel(or should feel). I'll stay in that range until maybe the last five miles. If I'm cooking, I may average 12 minute miles over the course. Totally pathetic.

I'm sure that we - me and the hordes of challenged others like me - by some kind of anti-athletic, sympathetic/telekinetic connection, will be slowing down Mr. McClelland and the rest of the best. Shame on us.

Yet, until we're banned from competing by the efforts of elitists, we'll keep signing up and running.

Until then, the author can have back his expectations of how the rest of us should perform. Thanks, but no thanks. And, by-the-way, Oprah's time was in no way shabby for a big lady. You go girl.....