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• Saturday, November 3, 2007 03:07 PM

  Let 'Em Run

  I sense that you are one of those guys who likes to make some extremist comment, simply to be thrashed and mauled from every angle. It's admirable to make such an aggressive claim, since often it is the crazies who somehow alter peoples' mindsets and stimulate change.

  I too share your competitive attitude and suggest that society not be so consumed by our feel-good mentality. I am a champion cyclist and I work my ass off. I'm in a cycling culture that is not content with old records, and this is reflected in the regular efforts to break world records (it also happens to be a little dirty with the doping allegations, but hopefully the new generation can change--doping in runners is another argument as well).

  The problem I have is every time I go to Wal-Mart I see children walking around with soda, slurping their way to diabetes and obesity, asking their mothers for the next PS2 game so they can sit on their ass and suck the life out of the health care system in the future. Without aggressive public health concerns addressing the obesity epidemic, people suffer from a lack of mediums to stay fit and improve their quality of life. For this reason, I'll let the male average time grow 45 min and not care at all. Actually I'll look at the 45,000 people participating in the Chicago marathon and smile. As a health care professional, it's 45,000 people less I have to worry about clogging our emergency rooms and being mortally dependent on medications. I say, let the Oprah fans run, as long as it gets them off the couch.

  —philmann3 Read philmann3's other letters
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