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Read other letters about this article
Finishing a marathon is no longer a feat, especially in our "everybody gets a trophy because we're all special" society.
Face it - if it takes you 6-7 hours to get around a 26.2 mile course, you're NOT an athlete. You're an average human being. It shouldn't take that long for anyone in decent health to cover that distance, even if they're walking a good part of the way. If you can't manage that, you're really out of shape and have no business being there in the first place. More of these races should take their cues from the Europeans and shut down the courses at five hours. If you haven't finished by then, you obviously haven't done your homework - better luck next year.
Of course, all the corporate-sponsored charity teams would never put with that - how many people do you think they could get to sign up to train for the NYC 26.2-mile Fitness Run? My guess is not many - because it's not about fitness, it's about getting the medal and bragging to the officemates, right?
And then heading straight back to the sofa.
Cheers.
