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Obesity is at an all time high. The percentage of Americans who are overweight is OVER 66%. And you are freaking whining about people willing to move their bodies for 26.2 miles all in one day, under their own steam?
I'm quite sure that the people who are inspired by "the penguin" are not the same people who might, with a hero to worship, start breaking records at running. They are the people who will live better, healthier lives because they have learned that winning is NOT all there is to it, for the vast majority of humans, and that movement for its own sake IS worth it.
If you want to produce world class runners at the marathon level, then start having the 15, 16, 17 year olds do longer that 5 and 10K races in cross country. Support people, starting at a young age, who want to run, seriously and competitively.
My husband is a half marathoner. At 47, he posted his best time in June of this year, under horrid conditions: muggy and warm. He ran 13.1 miles in an hour, 28 and a half minutes.
Had he been able to devote the time that he wanted to his training, he could have broken an hour 20. But working at a professional job in this country in this day means that you work 45, 50 or more hour weeks, and he had days that started early and ended late, requiring that he either skip or shorten a planned training.
He is an amateur runner. At his age, he will never be anything but an amateur runner. But for younger versions of him, with the talent and the drive to become professional runners at the marathon level, the impediments are many.
Stop complaining about the amateurs. They are the people who are providing role models for the rest of us, allowing us to see those regular people, those Oprahs and those P Diddies, pushing themselves past limits that they thought they'd never exceed.
Instead, push for real, monetary support for the REAL runners.
You'll get farther and you won't have to spend your time bashing people who don't deserve it.
