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Imagine honing a craft—say, sculpting—over the course of many years. You study history and technique. You work endless hours toiling in anonymity. You produce much junk and suffer terrible frustration before producing work of which you are genuinely proud.
Imagine then that a movement comes along claiming that anyone can be sculptor. Not only that, the movement claims that sculpture requires no particular knowledge or talent, and any object produced by anyone deserves as much praise as that produced by the so-called professionals. Finally, the movement claims that those who have dedicated their lives to sculpture miss the point entirely, are kind of kooky, and are elitist snobs to boot. And, much to your amazement, this line of thinking wins the day.
Well, if you were that sculptor, you might be a little pissed.
And this is what has happened to marathons. It’s been taken over by masses of people who have no intention of learning anything about running, no interest in furthering running as competitive sport, nor even a modest objective of improving their own abilities. Worse, more dedicated runners are mocked for wasting their time while doggedly pursuing a lifelong passion.
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.
