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Sportsmanship, as I was brought up to know it, doesn't include snobbery. I have been running for nearly a decade. I got into the sport to help build my lungs because I have asthma (and, no, I have never smoked a day in my life). I will never be an elite runner. But I can tell you that I have run many shorter races (12Ks, 10Ks, 5Ks) and done quite well in them. I entered the Marine Corps Marathon to challenge myself and take my running to the next level. Your suggestion that my running in that race is wrong and presumably helped ruin the sport (since my time was slower than Oprah's)completely ignores the fact that the seeded runners were long gone way before my chip ever crossed the start line. Further, the suggestion that anyone not running a sub-3:30 race is not in a race at all is simply offensive. When I entered the chute (and indeed a mile or so before that), I increased my pace, and I happily picked off about 10 runners by the time I crossed the finish line. I also know people who are elite athletes (one of my friends won the Toronto marathon and many other friends have done quite well in the Hawaii Ironman), and none of them have ever put anyone down for running or trying to improve themselves. Maybe that's just because they were seeded and didn't need to worry about the rest of us schlubs getting in their way, though . . .
