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• Sunday, November 4, 2007 07:50 AM

  Hey Buckeye Tim!

  Here's what you say:

  A marathon used to be a reward for years of hard work, steady improvement, and unwavering commitment to running. No longer. Now it’s just something people sign up for with much fanfare and no preparation. And as someone who cares about the sport of running, that makes me sad.

  I'd buy that defense if the author were an "elite" athlete. He's not. Expounding on your own metaphor, McClelland's talent level approximates that of an intermediate student in community college pottery class. He complains about Oprah but Oprah's own marathon time approximates his. That makes the whole premise of his article a joke.

  Now, I appreciate a purportedly serious runner like yourself. But you falsely presume that the lesser lights among you fail to prepare. That's absurd and colossally presumptuous. I won't ever run a marathon in my life, and I'm a pretty big guy, but I was a pretty dedicated runner for over a decade before my knees gave out. I completed my first half-marathon last year. I would have never been able to do so had I not had years of experience at jogging (20-25 miles/week for years prior) and had not prepared diligently prior to the event. And I finished it at a pedestrian 3 hours-plus, but I finished it.

  Scores of other people across the country could tell the same story. Look at Oprah. She had to lose dozens of pounds and train and diet assiduously to complete that feat. Serious runners should be applauding her and people like her for making that effort, instead of behaving like snarky hipsters who seethe at suburbanites for discovering their favorite bar.

  Just because you perceive people as less talented than you gives you no right to prejudge their preparation efforts.

  I'd expect more from a Buckeye.

  —namepeace Read namepeace's other letters
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