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If you don't like the slower runners or the crowds, enter a lesser-known or restricted race. I ran three half-marathons competitively at a decent clip (finished top 15-20%, generally), about 15 years ago. A few years later, about two years after a major auto accident, I made a goal of just finishing the same race. I ran a forty-minute slower time with restricted breathing and a metal rod running from my left knee to the ankle. I made it a point not to worry about my time and enjoy the crowds and the scenery along the way, and one might say that by far the best time I’ve ever had in a road race was not anywhere near my best time.
If you want to gut yourself every time, that's fine, go for it. Hope you have a personal best. But don't knock those of us who just like to run for running's sake and take it easy on the joints because we want to do it as long as possible.
You're going to deservedly catch a lot of flak on your article, not only for the condescension directed at those of us who are more limited in our abilities, but also for your half-baked theory that we slowpokes are somehow to blame for our elite runners not competing better globally. If you can't handle some 250-pound, middle-aged businessman who lunges in your way at the start of a race, you're probably not going to be ready for Ethiopian or Kenyan elite runners.
